H.  H.  Green 


-<''^r^. 


REV.  H.  H.  GREEN.  D.  D. 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE 

OF  A 

COMMONER 


AN  AUTOBIOGRAPHY 

BY 

H.  H.  GREEN.  D.  D. 


PRESS     O  » 

PUBUIC    OPINION 

DECO«AM.     IOWA 


y^' 


'-1 


^0    yy^.^A    d^cK  ^^VUU/^(A. 


To  My 

Beloved  Wife, 

Who  For  Nearly  Fifty  Years. 

Has  Shared  With  Me. 

The  Vicissitudes  of  Life. 

And  To  The  Boys  And  Girls 

Who  Have  Ever 

Blessed  And  Brightened  Our  Home, 

These  Pages  Are  Affectionately  Dedicated. 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


AN  AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


(^HAPTER    I 

rp==|1N  THE  thirteenth  day  of 
|B  J  March,  in  the  year  of  our 
jlfc^l  Lord  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  thirty-nine,  I 
was  born  in  the  village  of  Elsham, 
Lincolnshire.  England.  Of  my  an- 
cestry I  have  little  knowledge.  I 
only  know  because  I  have  been  told 
by  good  authority,  that  my  paternal 
grandfather,  whose  name  was  John 
Green,  and  my  grandmother,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Ann  .Johnson, 
were  both  of  the  same  county  of 
Lincoln,  my  grandfather  dying  at 
the  age  of  7  2  and  grandmother  ten 
years   later,   at   the   age  of   71. 

It  is  with  a  deep  sense  of  grati- 
tude to  Almighty  God  for  his  pre- 
serving care  over  me  through  the 
years  of  my  life,  that  I  undertake  at 
the  request  of  my  beloved  wife  and 
children,  this  brief  record,  well 
knowing  that  I  must  of  necessity 
omit  many  things  because  they  have 
passed  out  of  my  remembrance,  for 
I  never  kept  a  diary  of  my  doings 
nor  have  I  ever  charged  my  memory 
particularly  with  the  incidents  and 
events  of  my  life;  suffice  it  to  say 
then,  that  in  the  absence  of  written 
data  I  can  only  recall  such  things 
as  have  stuck  in  my  memory  amid 
the  crowding  events  of  passing 
years. 


Nor  am  I  such  a  conceited  oaf  as 
to  imagine  for  a  moment  that  any- 
thing which  may  be  set  down  in 
these  records  could  be  of  intere.st 
to  any  one  outside  of  my  own  fam- 
ily, with  possibly  the  exception  of 
some  of  my  relatives  or  near  per- 
sonal friends.  But  even  so  I  under- 
take to  narrate  in  as  simple  a  man- 
ner as  I  may  be  able  to  command 
the  few  things  which  may  seem  to 
me  to  be  not  altogether  unworthy 
of  mention,  all  the  while  trusting 
that  whatever  errors  shall  appear  or 
whatever  incidents  may  be  recalled 
and  written  down,  which  may  seem 
to  be  too  trivial  to  be  worthy  of 
notice,  will  be  generously  over- 
looked by  my  partial  friends. 

In  my  grandfather's  family  there 
were  five  boys  and  one  girl.  The 
names  of  the  boys  were  William, 
James,  David,  Samuel  and  Johnson, 
and  the  name  of  the  daug'hter  was 
Maria. 

My  father's  name  was  Samuel, 
who,  as  I  am  informed,  was  next 
to  the  youngest.  David  emigrated 
to  America  in  185  2  and  settled  in 
Ohio.  Some  of  his  children  now 
reside  at  Dayton  and  others  at  Troy, 
In  that  state. 

My  mother's  maiden  name  was 
Martha  Nisson.  She  was  married 
twice,  my  father  being  her  second 
husband.      She    was    the    mother   of 


THE   flI.MPLK   r>IFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


fourteen  children,  eleven  by  her 
first  husband,  Mr.  Leedhani,  and 
three  by  my  father.  Of  the  Leed- 
hams,  as  far  as  I  know,  only  two 
are  living  at  the  present  time, 
William,  who  resides  at  Lyons. 
Iowa,  and  Mary  Ann,  who  married 
.Joseph  Messmer,  and  who  have 
teen  residents  of  Florida  many 
years.  My  only  brother  died  in  in- 
fancy, and  my  only  sister,  Clara, 
has  been  living  with  her  husband 
and  children  in  St.  Louis,  Missouri 
for   the   past    forty    years. 

The  boys  in  my  grandfather's 
family  were  all  musicians  of  some 
local  prominence.  One  of  my  earli- 
est recollections  is  associated  with 
the  musical  penchant  of  my  father 
and  his  brothers:  they  were  in  the 
habit  of  meeting  for  rehearsal  oc- 
casionally of  an  evening  at  the 
tailor  shop  of  one  of  my  uncles, 
and  it  was  there  my  father  would 
take  me  when  I  could  not  have  been 
more  than  four  or  five  years  old. 
snd  I  even  at  this  late  day  recall 
with  sensations  of  pleasure  the  joy- 
ous times  spent  at  my  uncle's  tailor 
shop  listening  to  the  music  rendered 
by  the  "Green  Brothers"  on  those 
far  away  winter  evenings,  some- 
times diversifying  the  time  when  un- 
observed, among  the  shears,  pins, 
buttons  and  other  things  scattered 
about  the  shop  to  the  horror  of  ray 
uncle  .Tames,  until  overcome  by 
drowsiness  I  would  drop  asleep  and 
my  father  would  gently  stretch  me 
out  on  one  of  the  tables  where  I 
would  sleep  the  sleep  of  innocent 
childhood  until  it  was  time  to  break 
up  the  soiree,  or  whatever  you  may 
please  to  call  it,  and  depart  for 
home. 

My  father,  who  for  many  years 
was  a  member  of  the  church  or- 
chestra   in   Elsham,   told   me  once  of 


a  rather  ludicrous  incident,  in  which 
1  am  inclined  to  think  he  was  him- 
self one  of  the  chief  actors,  though 
he  never  said  as  much.  It  appeared 
that  on  a  certain  Sunday,  as  was 
the  custom  in  England  at  that  time, 
and  is  now  for  aught  I  know  to 
the  contrary,  a  household  of  rela- 
tives and  friends  had  been  invited 
to  dinner  and  to  spend  the  afternoon 
in  a  home-like,  social  way.  The 
husband  had  gone  i.o  church  as  his 
custom  was,  but  the  wife  remained 
at  home  to  look  after  the  guests  and 
prepare  the  dinner.  For  some  rea- 
s^on  she  became  confused  as  to  just 
what  preparation  should  be  made, 
especially  concerning  the  dinner: 
she  wanted  her  husband's  advice 
about  the  meal,  how  she  had  better 
prepare  it.  Now  it  so  happened 
that  the  boy  she  sent  to  make  the 
enquiry  reached  the  church  just 
when  the  choir  were  singing  the 
opening  hymn,  and  as  there  was  no 
time  to  spare,  the  little  fellow,  who 
could  sing  a  bit  himself,  stole  up  to 
his  father's  side  and  joining  his 
childish  treble  voice  with  the  voices 
of  the  choir,  sang  in  time  and  tune 
his    mother's    request: 

"Mother  wishes  you   to   say, 
How  she  shall  cook  the  meat  today." 

The  response  of  the  father  in  his 
deep  bass  voice  was  prompt  and  in 
perfect  time: 

"Sure,   it   will   be  right  and   foine. 
To  boil  the  leg  and  roast  the  loin." 

It  would  be  wholly  impossible  to 
entertain  anything  like  an  intelli- 
gent idea  touching  the  origin  and 
age  of  our  family,  nor  indeed  is 
it  any  great  matter,  in  my  thinking, 
when    or    where    we    originated. 

A  relative  of  mine  on  r.iy  mother's 
side  who  was  at  the  time  a  resident 
of  St.  Paul,  Minnesota,  with  whom  I 


THE   SIMPLE   LIFE  OF  A   COMMONER 


became  actiuainted  through  a  cousin 
in  Ohio,  visited  England  a  few  years 
ago  and  at  my  request  undertook  to 
look  up  my  ancestry  among  the 
records  of  the  county  of  Lincoln. 
He  was  able  to  trace  the  family 
back  through  many  generations  but 
finally  lost  it  because  of  his  inability 
to  follow  on  through  the  mazes  of 
the  old  English  dialects  which  he 
v/as  unable  either  to  read  or 
understand.  So  1  rest  content 
with  the  belief  that  lij^e  almost 
everyone  else  I  must  have  sprung 
from  the  father  of  our  race,  the 
first  man,  Adam,  which  is  as  far 
back  as  any  can  venture. 

However,  if  there  is  any  great 
honor  attaching  to  this  thing  of 
descent  it  is  my  opinion  that  Mr. 
Charles  Darwin  is  entitled  to  first 
place,  masniuch  .as  he  has  solemnly 
assured  us  that  his  ancestors  were 
monkeys,  an  honor,  which  I  venture 
to  say.  few  will  be  disposed  either 
to  dispute  or  share  with  him. 

In  Lhe  past,  I  think,  as  a  rule, 
Americans  have  shown  less  interest 
in  the  genealogical  tree  than  mof-t 
of  the  other  great  nations  of  the 
world,  but  even  so,  there  appears 
to  be  a  growing  interest  among  us 
in  the  history  of  our  families,  which 
will  proba])ly  increase  as  the  years 
go    by. 

As  an  illustration  of  this  ten- 
dency among  Americans,  the  follow- 
ing words  by  a  well  informed  writer 
concerning  the  poet  Longfellow  will 
be   apropos: 

"The  poet  Longfellow  was  for- 
tunate in  his  heredity.  He  came  of 
the  best  New  England  stock.  Among 
his  ancestors  on  the  paternal  side 
are  Samuel  Sewall,  the  first  chief- 
justice  of  Massachusetts,  and  Judge 
Stephen  Longfellow  of  Gorham, 
Mass.  His  mother  waj  a  lineal 
descendant  of  .Tohn  and  Priscilla  Al- 


den  of  Mayflower  fame;  and  she  was 
daughter  of  General  Peleg  Wads- 
worth,  a  distinguished  patriot  and 
brilliant  soldier  of  Portland,  Me. 

Longfellow's  father  was  an  able 
congressman  and  a  lawyer  of  high 
repute,  noted  for  his  hospitality  and 
his  agreeable,   courtly   manners." 

It  is  the  proud  boast  of  some  that 
they  are  descendants  of  the  Pilgrim 
Patherrf,  and  of  others  that  their 
forbears  were  the  Cavaliers  of  Eng- 
land. There  is  only  one  thing  at- 
taching to  the  place  of  my  birth 
which  affords  me  any  particular  sa- 
tisfaction, and  that  is  that  my  na- 
tive county  was  also  the  place  of 
the  nativity  of  some  very  distin- 
guished   persons. 

Lincolnshire,  lying  on  the  north- 
east coast  of  England,  was  the  birth 
place  of  John  Wesley,  the  founder 
of  Methodism:  Charles  Wesley,  the 
greatest  hymn  writer  of  the  world: 
Sir  Isaac  Nev/ton,  the  philosopher 
and  mathematician.  William  Cecil, 
better  known  as  Lord  Burleigh,  for 
forty  years  prime  minister  and 
secretary  of  state  under  Queen 
Elizabeth;  Alfred  Tennyson,  the 
poet  Laureate;  Jean  Ingelow,  auth- 
or of  several  volumes  of  poetry  and 
prose  fiction;  besides  several  others 
of  more  or  less  note.  Of  the  poems 
"The  High  Tide  on  the  Coast 
of  Lincolnshire,"  is  probably  the 
best  known;  it  posseses  a  beau- 
ty and  an  uniqueness  of  ex- 
pression peculiar  to  the  sixteenth 
century  which  is  both  forceful  and 
charming,  while  it  describes;  with 
wonderful  vividness  one  of  those 
events  which  may  happen  in  low 
countries,  once  in  a  thousand  years. 
I  shall  take  the  liberty  of  making 
a  quotation  from  this  beautiful 
poem  which  I  am  sure  will  be  read 
with  pleasure  since  it  samples  the 
whole    composition: 


rilK   SIMI'I.H    LIF1-:  Ol'  A   CO.M.MOXRK 


Th*^    swanliords     where    their    sedges 
are 
Moved      on      in      sunset's      golden 
brfeath. 
The  shepherede  lads  I  heard  alar. 
And    my    son's    wife,    Elizabeth: 
Till    floating   o'er   the   grassy   sea 
Came  downe  that  kyndly  message 
free. 
The    "Brides    of    Mavis    Enderby." 

Then  some  looked  uppe  into  the  sky, 
And  all   along   where .  Lindis  flows 
To    where    the    goodly    vessels    lie, 
And      where      the      lordly      steeple 
shows. 
They    sayde,    "And    why    should    this 
thing    be? 
What    danger    lowers    by    land    or 
sea? 
They   ring   the   tune   of   Enderby! 

For   evil    news    from    Mablethorpe, 

Of  pyrate  galleys  warping  downe: 
For      shippes      ashore      beyond      the 
scorpe, 
They  have  not  spared  to  wake  the 
towne; 
But  while  the  west  bin  red  to  see. 
And   storms   be   none,   and   pyrates 
flee, 
Why  ring  "The  Brides  of  Enderby?" 

T  looked  without,  and  lo  ray  sonne 
Came    riding    downe    with    might 
and  main; 
He  raised  a  shout  as  he  drew  on. 
Till   all   the  welkin   rang  again. 
"Elizabeth!    Elizabeth!" 

(A     sweeter     woman     ne'er     drew 
breath 
Than   my  Sonne's   wife.   Elizabeth.) 

'The    olde    sea    wall."    he    cried,    "is 
downe. 
The   rising  tide  comes   on  apace. 
And  boats  adrift  in  yonder  towne 
Go      sailing      uppe      the      market- 
place." 
He     shook     as     one     that     looks     on 
death : 
"God  save  you.  mother!"  straight 
he  saith; 
"Where  is  my  wife  Elizabeth?" 

"Good    sonne,    where    Lindis    winds 
her   way, 
With  her  two  bairns  I  marked  hei 
long; 
And   ere  yon   bells   began   to  play 
Afar  I  heard  her  milking  song." 


He    looked    across    the   grassy    lea. 

To  right,  to  left,  -Ho,  Enderby!" 
They  rang  "The  Brides  of  Enderby  " 

With     that     he    cried    and     beat    his 
breast: 
For    lo!    along    the    river's    bed 
A    mighty   eygre    reared    his   crest. 

And   uppe   the   T.indis  raging  sped. 
It     swept     with     thundtrous     noise.s 
loud : 
Shaped    like   a    curling   snow-white 
cloud. 
Or   like  a   demon   in   a   shroud. 

And        rearing        I>indis        backward 
pnessed 
Shook    all    her    trembling    bankes 
amaine; 
Then   madly  at  the  eygre's  breast 
Flung    uppe    her    weltering    walls 
agTiin. 
Then    banks   came    downe    with    ruin 
and    rout- — 
Then     beaten     foam     flew     round 
about — 
Then  all  the  mighty  floods  were  out. 

So  far.  so  fast  the  eygre  drave. 
The  heart  had  hardly  time  to  beat 

Before    a    shallow    seething    wave 
Sobbed     in     the     grasses    at     oure 
feet; 

The    feet   had    hardly   time   to   flee 
Before  it  brake  against  the  knee. 

And  all  the  world  was  in  the  sea. 

That  Americans,  especially  the 
jieople  of  New  England  have  an  abid- 
ing interest  in  the  old  county  of 
Lincoln,  on  account  of  historic  re- 
lationships is  made  clear  by  Mr. 
William  E.  Curtis,  who  in  one  of  his 
letters  from  abroad  makes  the  fol- 
lowing statements: 

The  old  town  of  Boston,  an  insig- 
nificant seaport  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Witham  River,  in  Lincolnshire,  and 
thirty  miles  south  of  Lincoln,  is 
considered  the  most  sacred  place  in 
the  United  Kingdom  for  New  Eng- 
landers.  There  John  Cotton,  vicar 
of  St.  Botolph's  Church,  was  con- 
victed of  "nonconformity,"  because 
he  administered  the  sacreraent  to  his 
congregation  while  seated  in  the 
pews  instead  of  on  their  knees.  He 
was  removed  from  his  pulpit  in  1633. 
and     with    Richard    Bellingham    and 


THP:   simple   LIFK  of  a   CO.M.MOXFlt 


Thomas  Leverett  sailed  for  America 
in  the  Grifln  shortly  after.  They 
landed  at  a  place  called  Shawmut, 
near  Plymoutn,  Mass.,  which  was 
then  a  thriving  village,  thirteen 
years  old,  and  soon  after  changed 
the  name  to  Boston  as  a  tribute  to 
their   native   town. 

The  Church  of  St.  Botolph  is  still 
standing,  and  a  picturesque  pile  it  is. 
Under  the  town  hall,  which  is  now 
a  second-hand  furniture  shop,  were 
the  cells  in  which  William  Brewster. 
William  Bradford  and  other  of  the 
pilgrim  fathers  were  imprisoned  for 
i^everal  months  at  the  time  their 
original  flight  from  England  was  ar- 
rested. Richard  Bellingham,  Tho- 
mas Leverett,  Brewster  and  Brad- 
ford all  in  their  turn  became  gov- 
ernors of  Massachusetts. 

The  sleapy  old  village  of  Scrooby 
is  really  the  cradle  of  the  pilgrim 
colony.  It  is  situated  about  thirty 
miles  north  of  the  City  of  Lincoln, 
a  few  miles  south,  of  Doncaster, 
where  the  St.  Leger  horse  race  oc- 
curs every  year,  and  about  eighty 
miles,  almost  in  a  direct  line,  from 
.Manchester. 

In  addition  to  the  office  of  post- 
master', which  was  a  gift  of  the 
crown,  William  Brewster  was  ajp- 
pointed  bailiff  of  the  county  by  Dr. 
Sandys,  archbishop  of  York,  who  re- 
sided at  the  archiepiscopal  mansion, 
an  imposing  and  spacious  place. 
Henry  VIII.  once  spent  a  night  under 
his  roof.  Cardinal  Wolsey  visited  it 
frequently  and  passed  several  weeks 
there  in  seclusion  just  before  his  ar- 
rest in    1530. 

At  the  neighboring  village  of  Bab- 
worth  Rev.  Richard  Clyfton,  a  brilli- 
tnt  scaoiar  and  fervid  oratoi-.  at- 
tracted a  large  congregation  and 
made  a  reputation  by  his  remarkable 
preaching.  So  popular  v.as  he  that 
the  people  of  Scrooby  frequently 
walked  five  miles  and  back  to  hear 
i;im.  But  his  criticisms  upon  the 
established  church  were  so  severe 
that  he  was  removed  from  the  pulpit 
and  organized  a  congregation  of  his 
cwn  in  the  year  1602,  which  is  be- 
lieved to  have  been  the  first  non- 
(onforming  church  in  England. 

John  Robinson  at  the  same  time 
was    preaching    a    similar    gospel    at 


Gainsborough,  twelve  miles  west  of 
Scrooby,  and  there  met  with  similar 
discipline  because  of  his  noncon- 
formity. He,  too,  organized  an  in- 
dependent congregation,  and  when 
James  I.  came  to  the  throne  it  was 
the.  only  nonconforming  church  sur- 
\  iving  in  the  whole  of  England. 

Those  whom  Clyfton  and  Robinson 
had  converted  organized  a  reformed 
church  at  Scrooby.  of  which  Clyfton 
became  pastor,  with  Robinson  as  his 
j'ssistant.  They  originally  held 
their  meetings  in  one  of  the  out- 
buildings of  the  manor  house  of  the 
archbishop  of  York.  This  congrega- 
tion, however,  was  not  allowed  to 
worship  in  peace.  The  members,  ac- 
cording to  the  narrative  of  Willijiui 
Bradford,  "were  hunted  and  perse- 
cuted on  every  side,  and  seeing 
themselves  thus  molested,  by  joint 
consent,  they  resolved  to  go  over  to 
the  low  countries,  where  they  heard 
there  was  freedom  of  religion  for  all 
men.  So.  after  they  had  continued 
together  for  about  a  year,  and  kept 
their  meetings  every  Sabbath  in  one 
I'lace  or  another,  exercising  the  wor- 
ship of  God  among  themselves,  not- 
withstanding all  the  vigilance  and 
malice  of  their  fdversaries,  seeing 
that  they  could  no  longer  con- 
tinue in  that  condition,  they  re- 
solved to  get  over  into  Holland  as 
they  could,  which  was  in  the  years 
1607   and   160S." 

All  that  now  remains  of  the  old 
manor  house  is  a  ruined  wall  and 
the  name.  The  property  still  be- 
longs to  the  archbishop  of  York,  and 
on  the  west  side  of  the  presirm. 
building  is  a  brass  tablet  bearing 
this   inscription: 

This  tablet  was  erected  by  the 
Pilgrim  Society  of  Plymouth. 
Mass.,  to  mark  the  site  of  the 
ancient  Manor  House,  where 
lived 

WILLIAM    BREWSTER 

from  15  88  to  1608,  and  where 
he  organized  the  Pilgrim 
Church,  of  which  he  became  a 
ruling  elder,  and  with  which, 
in  1608.  he  removed  to  Amster- 
dam, in  1609  to  Leyden,  and 
in  1620  to  Plymouth,  where  he 
died,  April   1  fi.   1^44. 


Till':    SIMPIJ-:    I.IFK   OK   A    CO.MMOXKFi 


VVilliain  Bradford,  first  Governor 
of  Massachusetts  and  historian  of  the 
colony,  was  born  at  Ansterfield,  a 
village  three  miles  from  Scrooby,  in 
1589,  and  the  house  is  still  stand- 
ing. It  is  called  the  Manor  House, 
and  visitors  are  shown  a  damp  cellar, 
'.it  by  only  one  window,  and  that 
fifteen  inches  square.  In  which  the 
pilgrims  used  to  hold  services  secret- 
ly. Bradford's  family,  like  Brew- 
ster's, were  people  of  wealth  and 
importance,  and  when  his  father 
died  in  1591  he  was  left  to  the 
guardianship  of  his  uncle,  a  schol- 
arlj  clergyman  with  a  fine  library 
to  which  the  boy  had  access  in  his 
childhood.  He  acquired  a  familiar 
Knowledge,  as  he  tells  us,  with 
"Dutch,  French,  Latin,  Greek  and 
Hebrew;  history,  philosophy,  anti- 
(:uity  and  theology."  But  in  spite 
of  the  wrath  of  his  uncle  he,  too. 
"with  a  very  deliberate  and  undei- 
standing  resolution,  and  the  reading 
of  the  scriptures,  combined  with  the 
illuminating  ministry  of  Richard 
Clyfden,"  took  up  the  new  movement 
and  became  an  ardent  and  active 
member  of  the  Reformed  Church. 
Bradford  was  editcaied  to  a  higher 
degree  than  any  other  of  the  pil- 
.miras. 

In  1902  a  memorial  church  was 
erected  in  the  old  town  of  Gains- 
borough, on  the  River  Trent,  where 
Kthelred  the  Great,  had  his  castle, 
and  Alfred  the  Great,  who  married 
his  daughter,  spent  several  years. 
Here  Sweyn,  King  of  D3nmark,  land- 
ed for  his  invasion  of  England  in 
1013,  and  the  traces  of  his  fortifica- 
tions may  still  be  seen.  And  here, 
it  is  claimed,  that  bold  and  vain 
viking  Canute  made  his  celebrated 
fittempt  to  exercise  authority  over 
the  wateis  of  the  sea.  All  through 
the  ages  events  of  iiuportance  have 
occurred  at  Gainsborough.  George 
Eliot  made  it  the  scene  of  her  story. 
•The  Mill  on  the  Floss."  She  calls 
it    "St.   Oggs." 

In  1896  Mr.  Bayard,  ambassador 
of  the  United  States,  laid  the  corner 
stone  of  the  ".John  Robinson  Mem- 
orial Church,"  to  celebrate  the 
:!00th  anniversary  of  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  pilgrim  congregation  in 
Miat   city.   The  church   was  completed 


;ind  dedicated  in  1902  and  an  ex- 
planatory tablet  was  erected  with 
this   inscription: 

This  tablet,  unveiled  June 
11th,  1902,  in  the  300th  year 
after  th3  formation  of  the 
church  in  Gainsborough,  with 
v.hich  the  name  of  .lohn  Robin- 
son is  associated,  stands  as  a 
record  of  the  co-operation  of 
American  with  English  Congre- 
gationalists  in  erecting  a  build- 
ing to  commeaorate  him,  the 
thought  of  whom  stirs  equal  re- 
verence in  English  and  Amer- 
ican hearts. 

.lohn  Robinson  was  a  native  of 
(jainsbo rough,  a  son  of  the  arch- 
deacon of  Lincoln  Cathedral,  born 
in  157  5,  educated  at  Coipus  ChristI 
College,  Cambridge ,  ordained  to  the 
ministry,  was  curate  at  Mundham 
i;nd  Norwich  and  was  excommuni- 
cated for  heresy.  His  congregation 
stood  by  him,  "certain  citizens  being 
excommunicated  for  resorting  unto 
and  praying  with  him,  who  was  ut- 
terly reverenced  by  all  the  city  for 
the  Grace  of  God  that  was  in  him." 
.John  Carver  was  also  a  resident 
of  Gainsborough  before  he  took  re- 
fuge in  Holland  with  the  others  in 
1607-08,  and  became  a  deacon  of 
Mr.  Robinson's  church.  Very  little 
can  b.^  discovered  about  him.  He 
was  of  humble  parentage,  but  "grave, 
Iiious,  prudent,  self-denying  and  ju- 
dicious." On  the  arrival  of  the  pil- 
grims in  the  New  World  he  was 
chosen  the  first  governor,  which  in- 
(iicates  the  respect  in  which  he  Vv^as 
held,  but  he  died  of  sunstroke  in  the 
following  yaar.  the  very  day  that  the 
Mayflower  started  upon  her  return 
voyage. 

Edward  VVirslow  car-e  from  Droit- 
wich  in  the  County  of  VVoicester,  and 
);is  family  were  rich  salt  makers.  He 
did  not  come  under  the  influence  of 
the  pilgrims  until  he  went  to  Levden 
as  a  student  at  the  university.  There 
he  made  the  acquaintance  of  .lohn 
Robinson,  was  converted  by  him  and 
.joined   the  pilgrim  colony. 

,Tohn  Winthj-op  -was  the  son  of  a 
lawyer  and  was  born  at  Edwarlston 
in  1587.  He  joined  the  movement 
at  Cambridge  while  he  was  a  stu- 
dent,   left    Groton,    Avhere   his    familv 


TllK   SIMPLE   \AFE  OF  A   ("OMMOXET! 


wore  living,  and  mailed  i'loni  South- 
i.nipton  in  1630,  ten  years  after  tlie 
Alayflower.  Groton  is  in  Suffolk 
County,  seven  miles  from  a  railway 
station,  and  ui  the  ancient  churcl' 
are  several  tablets  to  the  memory  of 
members  of  the  family,  which  indi- 
cates their  importance. 

It  is  entirely  probable  that  the  re- 
moval to  Holland  was  suggested  and 
directed  by  William  Brewster,  be- 
cause, shortly  after  his  graduation 
Ironi  Cambridge,  he  became  secre- 
tary to  William  Davison,  secretary 
of  state  to  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  in 
1585  acconipa.nied  him  on  an  em- 
bassy to  the  Netherlands,  where  he 
spent  three  months  and  was  greatly 
impressed  with  "the  sight  oi  a  brave 
peoplo  ir.  arms  for  national  and  re- 
ligious  freedom." 

Therefore,  when  the  persecution 
of  the  three  congregaticns  at  Scroo- 
liy.  Gainsborough  and  Babworth  be- 
came intolerable,  Brewster  and 
Bradford  entered  into  negotiations 
with  a  Dutch  tea  captain,  who 
agreed  to  take  them  across  the  chan- 
nel. After  they  had  gone  aboard 
with  all  their  possessions,  either 
through  fear  or  for  a  bribe,  the 
^.kipper  betrayed  them  lo  the  author- 
ities, and  they  were  arrested  and 
roughly  hauled  ashore — men,  women 
;ind  children.  The  Dutchman  refus- 
ed to  repay  their  passage  money, 
ihey  were  robbed  of  almost  all  th'.»ir 
funds  and  effects  and  several  of  them 
were  kept  in  prison  for  months  be- 
cause they  were  vnable  to  pay  the 
P.nps  that  were  imposed  upon  them 
lor  attempting  tc  leave  England 
V  ithout  passports. 

In  the  following  spring,  however, 
many  of  those  who  had  attempted  to 
leave  Boston  tried  it  again,  and  were 
more  successful.  They  embarked 
upon  a  Dutch  vessel  at  Grimsby 
''ommon.  a  tract  of  waste  land  near 
the  mouth  of  th?  River  Humber. 
whither  they  ha'l  made  their  way 
by  stealth  in  small  parties.  After-  a 
long  and  disagreeable  passage  they 
reached  Amsterdam  and  settled 
cuietly  down  in  the  land  of  their 
f.doption,  "learning  new  handicraft 
and  ways  of  living  in  order  to  meet 
their  daily  needs."  Brewster  taught 
l<]nglish   in   the  university  at   I.eyden. 


He  afterward  set  up  a  printing  press 
<"nd  published  several  theological 
works  which  could  not  be  printed  in 
London.  The  English  government 
complained  in  1619,  and  demanded 
his  arrest  and  extradition.  The 
Dutch  government,  homing  special 
reasons  for  wishing  to  be  on  friendly 
terms  with  King  James,  at  once 
a.greed,  and  in  duo  ccur.se  of  time 
arrested  the  wrong  man,  who  was 
sent  to  Lordcn  for  trial.  Brewster 
immediately  took  flight  and  returned 
to  London,  which  he  considered  the 
!  afest  hiding  place.  He  received  the 
f.helter  and  assistance  of  Sir  Edwin 
Sandys,  son  of  the  archbishop  of 
York,  who  had  been  one  of  his  child- 
bood  friends  and  playmates  at  Scroo- 
by.  Sandys  was  treasurer  of  the 
Virginia  Company,  and  through  him 
Brewster  obtained  a  patent  for  a 
tract  of  land   .n  that  colony. 

He  returned  to  Holland,  and,  with 
Bradford's  cooperation,  organized 
the  company  of  pilgrims  and  em- 
barked them  in  two  vessels,  the  May- 
^ower  and  the  Speedwell.  Before 
they  had  gone  far  down  the  channel 
the  captain  of  the  Speedwell  refused 
to  continue  the  voyage  on  the  ground 
that  his  vessel  was  unseaworthy.  His 
passengers  were  transferred  to  the 
Mayflower,  and  the  voyage  was  con- 
tinued tc  Plvmouth,  where  addition- 
al supplies  were  obtained.  The  name 
of  the  port  touched  before  plunging 
into  the  unknown  was  therefore  be- 
stowed upon  the  rock  upon  which 
they  laid  the  foundation  of  the  great- 
est nation  in  the  living  world. 

Few  American  tourists  go  to 
Scrooby.  The  e  is  nothing  about  it 
in  the  guide  book  and  it  does  not  ap- 
pear in  the  ordinary  itineraries,  but 
it  should  be  the  object  of  pilgrimage 
to  all  patriotic  Americans,  and  es- 
pecially to  the  descendants  of  the 
Mayflower  colony. 

The  distinction  of  having  been 
born  in  a  locality  which  gave  birth 
to  so  many  persons  of  note  can  only 
be  equalled  by  that  other  one  which 
has  become  so  prominent  in  recent 
years.  I  refer  to  the  coming  of 
titled  foreigners  to  this  country  to 
f^ecure  American  ,s;irls  as  their  wives. 


THK   SIMPLE   TJFE  OF  A   COMMONER 


Xor  do  I,  condemn  this  growing  cus- 
tom, as  ihe  manner  of  some  is,  but 
rather  look  upon  it  as'  one  of  the 
ways  by  which  Providence  is  to 
eventually  bring  the  nations  of  the 
earth  together,  in  the  bonds  of  com- 
ity, peace,  and  mutual  good  will.  If 
God  made  of  one  blood  all  the  na- 
tions of  men,  surely  it  was  never 
intended  that  they  should  hold  each 
other  by  the  throat,  the  stronger 
seeking  the  destruction  of  the  weak- 
er, or,  at  best,  holding  themselves 
aloof  from  each  other  and  striving 
by  every  means  in  their  power  to 
enlarge  and  enrich  themselves  at  the 
expense  of  their  weaker  and  less 
favored  neighbors.  No,  I  do  not  so 
lead  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  nor 
do  I  so  interpret  the  Golden  Rule. 
If  it  be  objected  that  some  of  these 
marriages  do  not  turn  out  well,  why. 
the  same  thing,  in  view  of  the  alarm- 
ing extent  to  which  the  divorce 
courts  are  beseiged.  may  be  said  as 
against  any  marriages  at  all  in  these 
United  States  of  America ;  for  it  is 
8n  alarming  fact  that  divorces  are 
becoming  notoriously  frequent  and 
the  sacredness  of  the  niarriage  rela- 
tion is  being  cheapened  to  woeful 
extent. 

As  a  foreigner,  coming  to  the 
United  States,  I  became  enamoured 
of  an  American  girl  and  in  d>ie  time 
laid  siege  to  her  heart  and  hand; 
only,  between  the  alleged  European 
fortune  hunters  and  myself  there 
are  a  few  differences,  which  I  will 
take  the  liberty  to  point  out,  lest 
my  wife,  after  living  with  me  for 
nearly  fifty  years,  might  come  to 
think  that  my  motive  in  seeking  her 
hand  was  of  no  loftier  character  than 
that  which  is  so  freely  ascribed  to 
these  so-called  "fortune  hunters"  of 
the  present  time.  If,  like  them,  I 
married  an  \merican  girl,  it  was  not 


en  account  of  her  wealth  in  houses, 
or  lands,  or  gold,  or  stocks,  or  bonds, 
tut  because  of  her  personal  worth, 
her  great  wealth  in  those  womanly 
virtues  which  are  the  chief  adorn- 
ment of  the  best  type  of  woman- 
hood, the  world  over;  and  which 
constitute  the  only  true  and  lasting 
loundation  of  good  citizenship,  here 
and  everywhere.  Besides,  I  had  no 
title  from  the  Queen.  I  was  not  a 
Baron,  or  a  Lord,  or  a  Duke,  oi- 
even  a  Knight.  I  had  no  coat  of 
arms  to  give  in  exchange  for  money, 
nothing  of  the  sort.  I  had  the  arms 
right  enough,  also  the  coat,  such  as 
it  was;  the  arms  were  in  the  coat, 
not  on  it,  making  a  shield  and  an 
encircling  buckler  whch  may  be  sup- 
I'osed  to  constitute  a  reasonable  pro- 
tection, against  which  nothing  can  be 
said. 

But.  as   the  novelists  say,  of  this, 
more  anon. 


CHAPTER  II. 
When  I  had  reached  my  sixth  year 
the  family  bid  adieu  to  Elshani.  and 
taking  ship  at  Hull,  set  sail  for 
London;  passing  down  the  river 
Humber,  out  to  the  North  Sea  and 
doMTi  the  east  coast  of  England,  we 
entered  the  river  Thames,  and  -'.ail- 
ing up  that  noted  stream,  we  passed 
among  the  many  places  of  historic 
interest,  the  city  of  Woolwich,  which 
contains  one  of  the  finest  dockyards 
in  the  world,  where  the  greatest 
ships  are  launched.  Woolwich  is 
also  the  seat  of  the  chief  arsenal  of 
England.  A  little  farther  up  the 
river,  you  come  to  Greenwich,  well 
known  as  the  seat  of  the  royal  ob- 
Fervatory,  from  which  the  longitud-- 
of  places  is  reckoned  and  markod  on 
all  English  charts.  Arriving  at  Lon- 
don in  due  time,  conveyances  were 
secured    and    we    were    driven    over 


THE   ^MMFl.E   LIFE  OF  A   CO.MMOXEH 


the  London  and  Oxford  turnpike 
road  through  Uxbridge  to  Beacons 
field,  tv.enty-three  miles  westward 
from  London.  Beaconsfield,  (local- 
ly pronounced  Beckonsfield )  was  a 
town  of  about  fourteen  hundred  peo- 
ple, and  is  the  place  which  gaw  to 
Kenjamin  Disraeli,  Prime  Minister 
of  Great  Britain  under  Queen  Vic- 
toria, his  title  of  Lord  Beaconsfield. 
There  we  lived  seven  years  on  a 
farm  known  as  the  Hyde  farm,  locat- 
ed, as  near  as  I  can  now  remember, 
tibout  two  miles  from  the  village. 
!  must  confess  that  my  memory  is 
clouded  as  to  many  things  connected 
with  that  period  of  my  life;  I  can 
cnly  recall  two  or  three  thing;  and 
even  chey  may  be  of  but  little  inter- 
est. 

My  school  life  began  in  earnest 
while  we  were  at  Hyde  Farm,  nnd  I 
may  say  that  my  experience  during 
those  days  v,as  not  unlike  that  of  the 
boys  and  girls  who  live  on  farms  in 
the  United  States  and  attend  school 
in  adjoining  towns  or  in  country 
1  .laces. 

The  school  which  I  attended  was 
I.  private  institution  kept  by  a  Mr. 
Russell,  who  had  for  a  helper  a 
young  man  named  William  Tread- 
way:  we  boys  always  called  h.im 
Billy  Treddy,  not  because  we  had 
rnything  against  him  but  because, 
well,  we  were  boys  and  it  came 
bandy. 

In  the  morning,  after  an  early 
breakfast,  I  was  gotten  ready  for 
school  either  by  my  mother  or  my 
half-sister,  Mary  Ann  Leedham,  and 
I  want  to  say  right  here  that  no  boy 
ever  had  a  better  sister  than  she  has 
been  to  me;  from  my  earliest  recol- 
lection she  always  had  me  under  her 
care  and  would  stoutly  defend  me 
against  all  my  enemies,  no  matter 
whether  I  was  In  the  right  or  wrong 


of  it;  that  made  no  difference  to  her, 
she  never  stopped  to  make  flua  dis- 
tinctions. I  remember,  on  one  oc- 
casion, when  I  was  a  very  little  fel- 
low, long  before  I  had  been  made 
happy  with  my  first  pair  of  pants, 
that  a  little  girl  who  was  consider- 
ably older  than  I  and  who  was  so 
brimming  full  of  mischief  that  it  had 
to  have  an  outlet  in  some  manner, 
seemed  to  find  great  satisfaction  in 
making  me  the  object  of  her  mirth- 
ful capers,  and  sometimes,  I  fear, 
the  victim  of  her  angry  resentment. 
Be  that  as  it  may,  I  was  easily  fright- 
ened by  her  threatening  words  or 
looks,  being  a  good  deal  of  a  coward, 
but  at  the  same  time  quite  easily 
stirred  up  by  any  real  or  fancied  in- 
tnilt  which  I  would  resent  in  the  only 
V,  ay  which  seemed  open  to  me.  that 
is.  by  angry  tears.  ^ly  tormentor, 
who  perfectly  understood  my  fail- 
ings, plaj-ed  upon  them  with  intense 
delight;  she  made  faces  at  me,  she 
II  ightened  me  with  ghost  stories  and 
threatened  me  with  ail  sorts  of 
direful  things.  But  one  day  my 
lister  caught  her  teasing  me  in  an 
unmerciful  manner  which  aroused 
her  indignation  to  the  boiling  point 
and  catching  the  girl  after  a  long 
chase,  she  settled  accounts  with  her 
for  all  time  to  come,  to  my  great 
satisfaction:  but  in  doing  so  sadly 
i;nsettled,  for  the  time  being,  at 
least,  the  friendly  relations  which 
had  hitherto  existed  between  the 
two  families. 

I  carried  my  dinner  in  a  little 
basket  as  did  three  or  four  others 
who  lived  far  enough  away  from  the 
school  to  make  it  necessary  for  them 
to  take  their  dinner  with  them. 
Among  the  many  good  things  which 
usually  made  my  dinner  was  a  fair 
sized  piece  of  rhubarb  pie;  now  I 
.,oiov  oared  for  pie  plant  in  any  way. 


m 


TKK    SIMPLE    IJKK   OF   A    ('O.MMOXRK 


aiul  uiilil  recfciilly  I  have  hardly 
ever  touched  it  since  my  Beaconsfield 
school  days.  I  never  said  much  about 
it  at  home  because  I  was  always 
looking  for  a  chance  to  trade  it  off 
at  school  for  something  more  to  my 
liking,  so  that  hunk  of  rhubarb  pie 
seldom  failed  to  show  up  at  the  bot- 
tom   of    my    dinner    basket. 

There  was  one  thing,  however, 
which  made  the  matter  a  little  hard- 
er for  me.  One  of  the  boys,  who 
like  myself,  carried  his  dinner  to 
school,  always  finished  up  with  a 
huge  piece  of  mince  pie  which  never 
failed  to  make  my  mouth  water:  the 
kid  himself  was  almost  an  exact 
counterpart  of  Dickens'  fat  boy,  so 
graphically  pictured  by  the  great 
a\ithor  in  Pickwick  Papers.  My! 
how  1  did  hanker  after  that  fellow's 
pie.  I  tried  to  enlist  his  sympathies. 
I  offered  him  my  pie  plant  for  it,  I 
would  joyously  have  parted  with  all 
mine  for  half  of  his;  1  offered  to 
throw  in  some  marbles  a  white  ally 
and  four  commoners;  I  coaxed  him, 
1  badgered  him,  and  1  would  have 
threatened  him  only  I  was  fifraid  to. 
Nothing  1  could  say  or  do  ever  in- 
riuced  him  to  let  go  of  any  portion 
of  that  tempting  mince  pie,  not  even 
a  stingy  bite  of  it.  I  was  too  honest 
to  steal  it,  too  poor  to  buy  it  even 
had  it  ever  been  in  the  market,  and 
I  could  not  get  trusted  for  it,  so  the 
case  was  absolutely  and  utterly  hope- 
less. 1  never  liked  that  boy.  Even 
at  this  late  day.  after  so  many  years, 
1  still  think  he  might  have  let  me 
had  just  one  bite. 

Our  studies  at  Air.  Russell's 
school  were  all  elementary,  as  be- 
fitted children  of  our  age;  we  were 
only  to  get  ready,  as  Mr.  Russell 
was  careful  to  remind  us  on  every 
fitting  occasion,  for  greater  things 
later    on.       We    were    just    entering 


iipon  the  most  wonderful  times  in 
the  world's  history  and  we  would 
do  well  to  get  a  good  ready  for  what- 
ever lay  before  us;  we  would  have  to 
know  a  great  deal  more  than  our 
fathers,  because  so  much  more  would 
be  required  of  us,  and  so  we  were 
spurred  on  from  day  to  day.  by  the 
inspiring  words  and  the  zealous  ex- 
ample of  that  good  man  who  earned 
for  himself  two  shillings  and  six 
pence  a  week,  or  whatever  the  mod- 
est charge  for  our  tuition  might 
have  been.  But  alas!  his  oft  re- 
peated advice  so  kindly  intended, 
was  lost  to  a  great  extent,  I  am 
r.fraid,  upon  most  of  us  because  of 
its  very  frequency;  it  became  to  us, 
ad  nmtsenm  ad  hoc  and  ad  every- 
thing else  that  was  disagreeable. 

The  prevailing  sentiment  among 
those  embryo  British  citizens,  whose 
homes  were  to  be  their  castles,  in  the 
r.ot  distant  future,  was  that  we 
didn't  care  to  know  any  more  than 
our  dads.  What  was  good  enough 
lor  them  was  good  enough  for  us, 
rnd  right  there  we  planted  our  hob- 
nailed shoes,  feeling  that  we  could 
not  do  otherwise.  But  it  must  be  re- 
membered that  we  were  %ery  young. 

Our  chief  was,  on  the  whole,  an 
excellent  teacher  and  a  humane  man. 
He  was  by  no  means  unduly  given 
to  the  rod  when  we  consider  the 
times  in  which  he  lived  and  flourish- 
ed, which  was  essentially  a  wallop- 
ing age.  Of  course,  he  found  it 
i:ecessary  to  use  his  cane  quite  fre- 
(luently  w^hich  to  his  younger  pupils 
was  an  instrument  of  terror,  though 
I  am  inclined  to  think  it  had  a 
wholesome  influence  on  the  warlik< 
kids  of  that  day,  who  very  early 
fame  to  think  that  the  highest  proof 
of  manhood  was  to  be  found  in  their 
pugnacious  propensities  which  were 
very  rarefully  nurtured  and  prac- 
ticed 


THK   SIMI'LK   \AFK  OF  A   COM  MOXKH 


II 


It  was  a  virtue  to  stand  up  like 
a  man  and  give  and  talie  what  was 
coming  to  us.  To  be  sure  we  were 
required  to  commit  to  memory  that 
wholesome  advice  given  by  the  poet, 
for  the  good  of  all  beligerent  young- 
sters and  had  we  at  all  times  fol- 
lowed it,  many  a  hard  fought  battle 
would  never  have  occurred.  It  be- 
gan in  this  way: 

■"Let  dogs  delight  to  bark  and  bite, 

For  God  has  made  them  so, 
Let  bears  and  lions  growl  and  fight. 

For  'tis  their  namre  to; 
But,    children,   you   should    never   1ft 

Your  angry  passions  rise; 
Your  little  hands  were  never  made 

To  tear  each  other's  eyes." 

1  have  a  distinct  recollection  of 
having  once,  at  least,  passed  under 
the  rod.  Four  of  us  boys  who  ate 
our  dinners  on  the  school  grounds, 
conceived  the  brilliant  thought  one 
fine  summer  afternoon  when  the  sun 
was  shedding  his  golden  rays  warm 
and  bright  overhead,  the  trees  all 
clothed  in  their  summer  verdure,  the 
song  birds  making  melody  in  the 
hedge-rows,  the  bees  busily  hum- 
ming and  gathering  honey  from  the 
flower  gilded  glebe;  when  all  nature, 
in  a  word,  seemed  to  be  beckoning 
us  away  from  the  little  stuffy  school 
room  and  its  droning  lessons  to  the 
f;reen  meadows  where  the  cowslips, 
daisies,  buttercups  and  primroses 
grew;  where  the  air  was  made 
fragrant  with  acres  of  sweet-smelling 
violets  which  are  found  in  such 
abundance  all  over  England,  and 
which  to  me  are  the  loveliest  of  all 
the  flowers  that  grow.  We  were  not 
strong  enough  to  resist  the  tempta- 
tion that  day:  we  stole  away  from 
the  school  grounds  after  we  had  eat- 
en our  dinners  and  alas,  did  not  re- 
turn again  till  quite  late  in  the  after- 
noon, when,  after  discussing  the  aw- 
ful situation  among  ourselves,  guilty 


wietches  thai  we  were,  we  finally 
mustered  up  courage  and  made  ;i 
sneak  for  our  seats.  It  was  no  go. 
The  eagie  eye  of  the  master  was 
upon  us.  We  weie  invited  to  make 
cursc-lves  more  conspicuous;  in  other 
words,  to  align  ourselves  on  the 
f^oor  in  froii.t  of  the  whole  school. 
There  was  a  little  hesitancy  at  first 
but  it  didn't  last  long;  we  may  not 
have  been  very  apt  .scholar-s  in  cer- 
tain directions,  but  in  others  wc 
were  right  smart,  a  very  short  space 
of  time  found  us  all  in  a  row  with 
the  master  in  front  of  us  and  we  fac- 
ing  the  school. 

It  was  the  first  time  in  rrry  life 
that  I  had  been  given  the  floor  in 
the  presence  of  an  intelligent  and 
sympathetic  audience  and  that  with- 
out asking   for  it. 

The  master  stood  befcie  us  armed 
with  the  insignia  of  ofl^ice.  his  baton 
of  power,  his  stern  face  bent  down 
upon  us;  there  was  a  gleam  in 
his  eye  akin  to  that  of  the  pirate 
chieftain  as  he  haughtily  treads  the 
deck  of  the  low-lying,  long,  rakish- 
looking  craft,  striking  terror  into  the 
hearts  of  all  about  him — 

"Hold  out  your  right  hand,"  said 
he,  in  a  voice  thai  made  me  ti-emble 
with  apprehension,  as  the  instrument 
of  torture  was  raised  over  his  right 
shoulder  to  make  it  more  impres- 
sive. "Hold  out  your  right  hand." 
I  slowly  and  timidly  produced  the 
required  mamber  from  behind  my 
back  where  it  was  concealed  for  the 
moment,  and  stretched  it  out  in 
front  of  me;  down  came  the  mei'ci- 
less  cane  upon  it  just  once,  but  that 
was  quite  enough.  I  was  or-dei-ed  to 
my  seat  and  the  others  were  served 
in  the  same  way.  There  was  no  pai*- 
tiality  shown  any  of  us;  we  were  all 
equally  guilty  and  merited  equal 
runlshment. 


I -2 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A   co.NLMOXER 


Tlie  visible  eftc'Ct  produced  was 
not  the  same,  however,  one  or  two 
of  us  cried  over  it,  the  others  did 
not;  whereupon  a  discussion  arose 
after  school  was  out  over  the  ques- 
tion as  stated  by  one  of  the  boys 
who  had  always  managed  in  one  way 
or  another  on  many  former  occasions 
to  escape  chastisement  for  his  own 
misdoings.  "What's  the  use  of  cryin' 
anyhow?"  said  he.  He  was  prompt- 
ly advised  that  he  would  have  found 
out  if  he  had  been  one  of  the  mar- 
tyred four;  it  was  one  thing  to  sii 
en  your  seat  and  see  somebody  else 
get  a  lickin'  and  quite  another  thing 
to  get  it  yourself.  I  don't  remember 
whether  I  was  one  of  the  ""crybabies" 
or  not,  no  matter.  I  have  seen  some 
very  spunky  people  cry  when  they 
were  angry,  the  angrier  they  became 
the  harder  they  cried.  In  what  other 
way  can  a  baby  give  expression  to 
its  indignant  feelings  so  effectively 
as  by  squirming  and  kicking  and  cry- 
ing? Nature  has  provided  it  with 
that  masterful  v/eapon  for  practical, 
not  for  esthetic  purposes.  Where  is 
the  young  man  whose  sister  has  not 
.'^een  the  time  when  her  greatest  con- 
solation was  to  retire  to  her  own 
front  room,  up  stairs,  and  all  by  her- 
self, intone  the  wail  of  the  weeping 
prophet  of  Israel,  "O,  that  my  head 
were  waters  and  mine  eyes  a  fountain 
of  tears."  .Job  Trotter  had  a  handy 
faculty  of  producing  them  on  de- 
mand; he  was  an  expert  in  the  use 
ot  tears;  even  the  attute  Sam  Weller 
gazed  upon  .Job  Trotter  in  admira- 
tion when  he  was  in  tears.  Tears 
are  no  mean  weapons,  no  matter  by 
whom  or  for  what  purpose  they  may 
he    used. 

The  curriculum  at  the  Beacons- 
tield  school  included  memorizing  and 
reciting  passages  of  Scripture;  these 
verses  were  called   for  on   stated  oc- 


casions and  they  ceitainly  served  a 
good  purpose  to  me,  at  least, 
for  years  afterward,  upon  en- 
tering the  ministry  I  found 
that  I  was  able  to  recall  without 
difficulty  many  texts  which  had  been 
fastened  upon  my  mind  in  my  child- 
hood days  at  school.  Three  of  them 
I  recall  at  this  moment:  Genesis 
3-15,  Numbers  2  4-17,  and  Isaiah 
.-..3-6. 


CHAPTER    III. 

In  England  in  those  days  as  in 
other  European  countries,  there  was 
a  deep  seated  belief  in  ghosts  and 
other  uncanny  things,  which,  as 
might  be  expected,  exerted  an  ex- 
ceedingly unhappy  influence  over 
the  children.  Of  course  this  wretch- 
ed superstition  where  It  existed 
among  grown  up  people  was  gener- 
ally confined  to  the  ignorant,  it  had 
little  place  among  those  who  could 
lay  claim  to  much  intelligence.  At 
the  same  time  its  influence  was  felt 
to  some  extent,  even  among  those 
who  openly  ridiculed  the  idea  of 
ghosts;  they  were  loath  to  pass 
through  a  gi-ave  yard  at  night,  or 
even  through  a  body  of  timber  when 
it  was  very  dark.  The  servants 
would  tell  their  hideous,  hobgoblin 
yarns  with  such  doleful,  scarey 
voices  to  the  shivering  children 
that  the  poor  little  things  almost 
frightened  to  death,  would  not  re- 
cover from  the  effect  produced  up- 
on their  minds  for  years.  I  have 
little  patience  with  those  heartless 
dolts  who  deliberately  frighten 
children  with  ghost  stories,  or  by 
practical  jokes  endanger  the  peace 
of  mind  and  sometimes  even  the 
lives   of   grown-up   people. 

On  the  farm  where  we  lived  there 
was    a    body    of    timber    skirting    a 


Sl.MlM.K 


KK   OF   A    COMMOXKIJ 


i:; 


meadow  through  which  1  had  to  pass 
on  my  way  to  and  from  school.  One 
evening  after  school,  in  company 
with  two  or  three  other  children  of 
my  own  age,  I  stopped  to  renew  a 
game  of  marbles  which  had  been 
interrupted  when  school  called  in 
the  afternoon.  We  all  became  so 
deeply  intersted  in  the  game  that 
I  lie  time  passed  unobserved  by  us 
till  the  shadows  of  evening  began 
to  gather.  I  hastened  on  home  as 
fast  as  I  could,  but  we  had  ling- 
ered a  little  too  long  and  it  was 
getting  dark  wiien  I  reached  the 
timber  which  had  always  been  my 
bugaboo  at  night.  I  whistled  and 
sang  and  made  all  the  noise  I  could 
to  keep  my  courage  up,  but  unfor- 
tunately for  me  I  could  not  keep 
my  eyes  off  the  timber,  try  as  hard 
as  I  might,  and  oh,  dreadful  thing. 
I  saw  a  ghost,  a  veritable  full  grown 
ghost.  Now  Roger  Sainton  used  to 
say  that  a  white  sheet  made  nine 
parts  of  a  ghost,  and  imagination 
one  part,  but  I  th.nk  that  imagina- 
tion makes  all  the  ten  parts  of  it  if 
there  be  ten  parts  to  it,  though  I 
did  not  think  so  then. 

I  saw  the  ghost  with  my  own  eyes, 
there  was  no  mistake  about  that. 
It  was  not  necessary  that  I  should 
linger  to  investigate  more  closely 
the  awful  spectre.  I  did  not  tarry 
for  a  single  moment.  I  stopped 
whistling  and  began  to  run,  O.  how 
I  did  run,  nor  did  I  stop  till  almost 
breathless  and  nearly  frightened 
out  of  my  wits,  I  reached  home  to 
be  folded  in  my  mother's  arms. 
The  ghost  I  had  seen  proved  to  be 
only  an  old  white  horse  which  had 
been  turned  loose  in  the  woods  and 
was  innocently  browsing  on  the 
leaves  of  the  trees,  near  the  edge 
of  the  timber,  without  a  single 
thought    of    the    dire    alarm    he    had 


created   in   one   small    breast.      1    was, 
very  careful  after  that   to  pass  those 
woods    in    the    daytime,    when    T    was 
alone. 

Farm  life  in  England  as  1  remem- 
ber it  is  essentially  the  same  as  in 
the  United  States.  Of  course  there 
are  differences  arising  out  of  local 
conditions  and  customs,  the  intro- 
duction of  machinery,  the  improv- 
ed means  for  transportation  of  the 
products  to  market  and  newer 
methods  of  labor,  together  with  the 
comparative  length  of  time  the 
lands  have  been  under  cultivation; 
but  the  actual  living  is  the  same  in 
all  essential  particulars.  One  of 
the  chief  sources  of  income  at  Hyde 
Farm  was  its  fruit  products,  apples, 
pears,  plums  and  especially  cherries, 
never  have  I  seen  su€h  quantities 
and  such  varieties  of  cherries.  Well 
do  I  remember  with  what  interest 
we  children  looked  forward  to  the 
time  when  they  would  be  ripe  and 
ready  for  market.  Baskets  shaped 
like  a  half  bushel  measure  were 
made  of  willow  twigs  and  lined  with 
fresh  ferns.  In  these  baskets  The 
cherries  were  carefully  packed  and 
when  they  were  filled  the  top  was 
covered  with  ferns,  and  sticks  as 
large  as  a  lady's  finger  were  crossed 
over  the  baskets  and  fastened  in 
the  sides:  in  this  manner  the  cher- 
ries kept  fresh  and  oool,  were  car- 
ried up  to  London  and  marketed. 
At  that  time  there  were  no  railroads 
in  that  immediate  vicinity,  so  that 
everything  had  to  be  hauled  to 
market  in  wagons  and  that  gave  me 
an  opportunity  to  make  a  good 
many  trips  to  T>ondop  and  see  the 
city. 

If  was  my  father's  custom  to  take 
a  load  of  baled  hay  and  cherries  in 
their  season,  at  the  same  time,  for 
haled    liav    was    always    in    demand 


14 


'UK    SI.MPl.H    LIFK   OF   A    ('(^MMON'ER 


at  the  London  hay  market.  We  us- 
ually left  the  farm  in  the  evening 
and  travelling  all  night  reached  the 
city  next  morning  in  time  for  the 
opening    of    the    market. 

Those  English  farm  wagons  were 
heavy,  wide  tired  affairs,  not  unlike 
the  Pennsylvania  wagon;  much 
larger  and  more  cumbersome  than 
those  used  on  an  Iowa  farm,  and 
inasmuch  as  all  public  roads  were 
macadamized  and  kept  in  thorough 
repair,  immense  loads  could  be 
hauled  to  market.  The  horses  were 
hitched  one  in  front  of  the  other 
and  driven  tandem,  generally  three 
or  four  of  them,  while  the  driver 
found  a  seat  on  the  thills  close  up 
to  the  front  wheel  of  the  wagon, 
on  the  nigh  side.  For  this  reason 
teams  always  turned  to  the  left  in- 
stead of  I  he  right  in  passing  each 
other.  Seated  on  the  thills  my 
father  rode  with  his  long  driving 
whip  in  his  hand,  while  T  was  made 
secure  on  the  off  side,  till  I  would 
get  too  sleepy,  in  which  event  both 
of  us  would  drop  off  our  perches 
and  trudge  along  beside  the  horses 
until  wearied  out  I  would  hail  with 
much  rejoicing  the  suburbs  of  the 
city,  where  we  stopped  for  a  rest 
and  a  breakfast  of  mutton  chops, 
hot  cross  buns   and   coffee. 

Out  of  school  hours  or  during 
vacation  days  ray  chief  occupation 
was  spudding  thistles,  a  game  at 
which  I  became  quite  proficient,  not 
because  it  was  enjoyable  work,  but 
because  much  practice  through 
many  days  made  me  familiar  with 
all  the  finer  points  of  the  game,  so 
I  could,  under  discouraging  circum- 
stances, like  ^lark  Tapley,  be  quite 
jolly.  If  I  had  had  a  companion  to 
share  my  burdens  occasionally,  and 
to  talk  to  as  the  days  went  by  it 
might    have    been    different :      but     1 


was  alone  and  every  thistle  in  th*^ 
field  was  my  mortal  enemy,  for  ev- 
ery one  of  them  stood  for  a  French- 
man, and  at  that  period,  so  soon 
after  the  battle  of  Waterloo,  every 
English  boy  regarded  with  haughty 
scorn  the  people  across  the  channel 
who  had  been  their  enemies,  most 
of  the  time  ever  since  the  days  of 
the  Black  Prince.  An  Englishman 
was  equal  to  three  Frenchmen  any 
day.  Let  them  come  on,  who  cared; 
those  thistles  were  Frenchmen,  and 
this  intrepid  spudder  warrior  was 
ready  for  them.  He  made  nothing 
of  attacking  them  as  they  stood 
there  segregated  from  each  other, 
scattered  over  the  field  of  battle,  as 
in  single  file,  or  in  serried  ranks 
they  stood  before  him;  no  matter, 
they  were  his  prey,  and  right  royal- 
ly did  he  wade  into  theiu  with  ail 
a  Briton's  brawn,  for  just  a  little 
while  at  a  time.  The  lar.:<ost  and 
fiercest  of  them  were  coIonel"5  and 
line  ofllcers  but  they  all  fell,  one 
after  another,  ingloriously  before 
the  prowess  of  that  sturdy  Briton's 
good  right  arm,  gallantly  assisted 
by  his  left.  O,  it  was  glorious  in 
imagination,  but  hardly  so  in  fact, 
for  the  nationality  of  those  con- 
temptible thistles  with  their  utter 
destruction  furnished  the  opposing 
troopless  general  with  the  only  sat- 
isfaction he  was  ever  able  to  get 
out    of    his    campaigns. 

During  our  years  at  the  farm, 
death  entered  the  family  and  re- 
moved two  of  its  members,  one,  my 
half  brother,  George  I^edham,  a 
young  man  aged  twenty-one,  who 
had  been  afflicted  by  a  sad  acci- 
dent in  his  childhood,  having  been 
scalded  by  the  overturning  of  a  ket- 
tle of  boiling  water  which  threw 
him  into  fits  from  which  he  never 
recovered   but  which   eventuallv   was 


TllK   SIMIM-K    \AFK   (W  A   CO.MMONl-^R 


the  cause  of  his  deatli,  for  as  he 
was  wandering  about  the  place  one 
day  one  of  those  fits  came  on,  and 
it  was  my  sad  lot  to  find  him  lying 
with  his  head  and  shoulders  com- 
pletely immersed  in  the  mud  and 
water  of  a  deep  ditch  into  which  he 
had  fallen,  while  his  feet  were  ly- 
ing on  the  bank.  He  had  been 
dead  some  time  when  I  discovered 
him.  My  poor  mother,  whose  love 
seemed  to  center  on  him  because  of 
his  misfortune,  was  nearly  heart 
broken  over  the  sad  accident;  and 
indeed  it  was  a  hard  blow  to  all  of 
us  for  George  was  a  gentle,  kind 
hearted,  inoffensive  young  man, 
whom  we  all  deeply  loved.  About 
the  same  time  my  infant  brother. 
Frederick,  died  of  scarlet  fever. 
Thus  we  were  called  upon  to  suffer 
a  double  bereavement  which  was  a 
great    affliction    to    my    parents. 

The  year  1851,  which  was  our 
last  year  at  Hyde  Farm,  was  mark- 
ed by  what  was  to  me  an  event  of 
extraordinary  importance — the  first 
World's  Fair.  The  Crystal  Palace 
was  heM  that  year  in  London  and 
it  was  my  great  privilege  to  see 
it.  It  had  been  widely  annouinced 
that  the  entrance  fee  was  to  be  re- 
duced to  one  shilling  on  a  certain 
day,  because  on  that  day  the  royal 
family  was  to  be  present  and  the 
price  of  admission  was  placed  low 
so  that  the  common  people  might 
have  an  opportunity  to  see  the 
Queen.  It  so  happened  that  my 
father  and  I  were  in  London  that 
day,  but  if  the  Queen  was  at  the 
show  we  did  not  happen  to  see  her, 
which  was  not  at  all  surprising, 
considering  the  vast  crowds  of  peo- 
ple in  the  vicinity  of  the  palace  and 
the  consequent  difficulty  of  getting 
about.  However,  we  were  not 
greatly     disappointed     for     we     had 


once  seen  Her  Majesty  in  her  car- 
riage of  state  driving  on  the  London 
and  Oxford  road,  on  a  previous  oc- 
casion. It  is  said  that  the  royal 
carriage  is  drawn  by  eight  horses 
and  that  no  private  family  is  per- 
mitted to  use  that  number.  It  is 
the  royal  prerogative  and  must  not 
be  infringed  upon,  for  it  is  a  dis- 
tinguishing feature  by  which  the 
royal  family  en  route  is  known 
from  all  others,  which  I  suppose  is 
a  necessity.  However,  those  who 
have  a  desire  to  ape  royalty  can  do 
so  if  they  choose  by  driving  seven 
horses  and  a  mule,  which  I  under- 
stand  is  sometimes  done. 

The  Crystal  Palace,  which  as  its 
name  imports,  was  built  of  glass  and 
iron,  its  floors  only  were  of  wood. 
Of  course  it  could  not  compare  with 
the  great  fairs  which  have  follov/ed 
in  Europe  or  America  in  the  matter 
of  dimensions  or  indeed  in  many 
other  respects,  for  it  was  only  1851 
feet  in  length  and  covered  an  area 
of  only  21  acres.  It  was  visited  by 
six  million  people.  But  when  we 
consider  the  fact  that  it  was  the 
pioneer  of  the  great  fairs  of  the 
world,  it  was  certainly  a  wonder. 
Passing  a  monstrous  piece  of  coal 
at  one  of  the  entrances,  which  was 
too  large  to  be  carried  inside,  my 
attention  was  caught  by  the  great 
Kohinour  diamond,  chiefly  I  think 
on  account  of  the  extraordinary 
care  that  was  taken  to  guard  it  from 
thieves,  for  I  knew  nothing  of  its 
value.  The  Kohinour  was  at  that 
time  the  largest  diamond  in  the 
world,  buit  the  enormous  Cullinan 
stone  found  by  a  Mr.  Tom  Cullinan 
in  the  Transvaal  is  by  far  the  largest 
as  yet  discovered,  for  it  is  said  to 
be  of  3,024  1-3  carats,  or  1.37  lbs. 
avordupois  and  is  valued  at  $5,000,- 
000. 


Hi 


TIIK   SI.MPIJ']    \AFK   OF   A   COAfMOXKlt 


But  of  all  the  things  I  saw  that 
day,  there  was  one  that  so  deeply 
interested  me  that  I  have  never  for- 
gotten its  exact  appearance.  It  was 
a  wonder  to  a  boy  of  my  age  and 
would  be  of  considerable  interest 
even  now.  It  was  just  a  common 
ordinary  pocket  knife  with  a  bone 
handle  and  lilades  of  steel,  but  it 
contained  18iil  of  those  steel  blades, 
from  one  to  two  feet  long  and  pro- 
portionally wide  and  thick,  on  down 
of  all  sorts  and  sizes  till  the  small- 
est could  not  have  been  more  than 
a  quarter  of  an  inch  long.  They 
were  all  open  from  the  handle  and 
stood  out  in  all  directions  like  the 
(luills  on  a  porcupine's  back  when 
he  is  on  a  war  footing.  Up  to  that 
time  that  was  the  greatest  sight  I 
had  even  seen.  I  have  often  thought 
since,  if  that  knife  had  been  lost 
for  a  thousand  years  and  then 
found  by  some  antiquarian,  what  a 
time  the  wiseacres  might  have  had 
over  the  monstrous  size  of  a  man, 
who,  in  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth 
century  carried  a  pocket  knife  like 
that. 

There  were  other  places  and 
things  in  London  besides  the  Crys- 
tal Palace  which  were  of  great  in- 
terest to  me,  not  the  least  of  which 
was  Trafalgar  Square,  where  the 
monument  of  the  greatest  of  al! 
English  admirals,  Lord  Nelson, 
stands:  Paternoster  Row,  where 
fifty  years  ago  both  sides  of  the 
street  were  lined  with  book  stores. 
Cheapside,  Fleet  street,  the  Strand, 
London  Bridge,  The  Thames  Tunnel, 
through  which  I  passed  under  the 
river:  The  British  Museum,  West- 
minster Abbey  and  many  other 
places  of  historic  interest  which  are 
the  common  property  of  all  man- 
kind. 

One  day  as  we  were  passing  down 


one  of  the  principal  thoroughfares, 
my  father  pointed  out  a  sign  which 
read:  "BEN  CAUNT,  Champion  of 
England."  This  he  told  me  meant 
that  ^Ir.  Caunt  w-as  the  greatest  fist 
fighter  in  England,  a  fact  that  I 
was  quite  familiar  with  already, 
though  my  father  was  not  aware  of 
it.  I  have  been  told  that  one  of 
those  champions  of  the  prize  ring, 
before  he  entered  upon  his  illustri- 
ous career  as  an  exponent  of  the 
'manly  art"  was  a  brick  mason,  and 
one  day  he  decided  to  make  a 
change,  so  taking  from  his  pocket 
his  old  bulls  eye  silver  watch  he  im- 
bedded it  in  mortar,  between  two 
bricks  in  the  wall  upon  which  he  was 
at  work,  saying  as  he  did  so:  "From 
this  on  I  quit  work  and  fight  for  a 
living."  Tradition  has  it  that  the 
watch  may  be  seen  in  the  w-all  to 
this  day,  though  Tom  Sayers,  the 
man  who  put  it  there  has  been  dead 
for  many  years:  however  that  may 
be  there  can  be  no  question  that  if 
Mr.  Sayers  was  desirous  of  fighting 
for  a  living,  it  was  not  necessary 
that  he  should  leave  the  honest  toil 
of  a  brick  mason  to  enter  the  roped 
arena.  Every  man  that  gets  an 
honest  living  finds  that  he  has  to 
fight  for  it,  and  generally  he  finds 
foes  worthy  of  the  best  that  is  in 
him. 

.\mong  the  well  known  public 
buildings  in  London,  few  are  better 
known  than  the  St.  Paul  Cathedral. 
It  is  certainly  a  magnificent  struc- 
ture and  is  well  worth  a  visit.  Even 
as  a  boy  I  w^as  delighted  with  it 
when  on  one  occasion  T  visited  it 
with  my  father.  To  say  nothing  of 
the  building  itself  which  has  so  of- 
ten been  described  by  tourists  and 
others,  the  great  organ  charmed  me 
beyond  measure,  for  it  was  a  won- 
derful   creation:    I    had    never    heard 


THE   SIMPLE   LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


of  anything  to  compare  with  it  nor 
have  I  ever  since  heard  its  equal, 
though  at  the  present  time  there  are 
a  few  larger  in  Europe  and  also  in 
this  country.  On  the  dome  or  cu- 
pola of  the  cathedral  there  is  a  hol- 
low iron  ball  which  viewed  from  the 
ground  appears  to  be  not  larger  than 
an  ordinary  tea  kettle,  but  in  real- 
iiy  is  large  enough  to  seat  nine  full 
grown  persons;  my  father  was  In- 
side of  it  when  there  were  seven 
others  and  he  said  there  was  quite 
room  enough  for  another. 

There  is  an  Interesting  story  con- 
nected with  St.  Paul's  church  which 
was  told  me  many  years  ago:  A 
horrible  crime  had  been  committed 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  cathedral 
which  was  shown  to  have  been  com- 
mitted at  midnight.  No  trace  of  the 
I'erpetrator  of  the  deed  could  be 
found  though  every  effort  was  made 
io  uncover  the  criminal.  Large  re- 
wards were  offered  for  his  appre- 
hension and  conviction  but  without 
avail,  he  could  not  be  found;  at 
length  suspicion  fell  upon  a  certain 
policeman  whose  beat  covered  the 
place  where  the  crime  had  been  per- 
petrated. The  officer  was  not  charg- 
ed with  the  actual  commission  of  the 
crime,  but  with  neglect  of  duty,  for 
which  he  was  tried  in  court  and 
would  have  been  convicted  had  it 
not  been  for  a  most  unusual  occur- 
ence. He  was  accused  of  being 
asleep  on  his  beat  instead  of  being 
awake  and  alert  as  he  should  have 
been.  To  this  charge  he  plead  not 
guilty,  and  in  proof  of  his  wake- 
fulness declared  that  the  clock  on 
St.  Paul's  church  instead  of  striking 
twelve  at  midnight,  struck  thirteen 
times,  a  fact  which  upon  investiga- 
tion was  corroborated  by  the  testi- 
mony of  two  other  witnesses. 

In   the  fall  of  18."1,  we  left   Hvde 


Farm  and  moved  to  Wooburn  Green, 
a  village  in  the  same  county  of 
Buckingham,  where  my  father  rent- 
ed a  public  house  which  had  over 
its  front  door  a  swinging  sign  of 
sheet  iron  upon  which  had  been 
painted  many  years  before,  so  long 
that  the  letters  had  become  faded 
and  blurred  wnth  age,  this  legend: 
"Old  Bull  Inn."  The  house  had 
been  so  called  from  the  days  of 
Charles  the  Second,  for  aught  I 
know  to  the  contrary.  It  was  an 
old  fashioned  English  Inn,  and  for 
that  year  we  provided  for  the  wants 
Gf  the  traveling  public,  both  man 
and    beast. 

The  year  to  me  was  uneventful 
except  for  one  or  two  things,  one  of 
ti.ese  was  a  dangerous  illness  from 
typhus  fever  which  came  very  near 
proving  fatal.  It  was  only  through 
the  skill  of  two  excellent  physicians 
and  my  mother's  constant  loving 
care,  who  watched  over  me  night 
and  day  as  only  a  mother  can  or 
would  do,  that  after  a  long  weari- 
some period  of  hovering  between 
life  and  death,  I  was  finally  pulled 
through  to  recovery.  So  near  was 
I  to  death's  door  that  during  my 
unconscious  mental  wanderings,  as 
the  crisis  approached,  I  told  my 
mother  I  was  going  to  die  at  twelve 
o'clock  that  night.  It  was  a  strange 
thing  to  say  and  it  impressed  all 
who  heard  it:  of  course  they  thought 
after  that  there  was  little  hope,  and 
as  the  time  drew  near  all  wel"e  filled 
with  anxiety.  At  exactly  twelve 
o'clock  Dr.  Rumsey,  who  had  been 
with  me  all  the  evening,  looked  at 
the  watch  he  held  in  his  hand  and 
then  at  me,  a  sigh  of  relief  escaped 
him  as  he  smilingly  turned  to  my 
mother  and  said:  "Mrs.  Green,  your 
son  will  get  well."  During  the  con- 
valescent period   I  was  seated  at  the 


IS 


THE   SIMPLE   LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


window  overlooking  the  green,  and 
was  allowed  to  watch  the  cricket 
games  between  our  fellows  and  the 
neighboring  towns.  Of  course  I 
was  intensely  interested  in  those 
games,  being  a  member  of  the  junior 
club.  Great  Marlow,  a  town  about 
eight  miles  distant,  was  one  of  our 
chief  opponents  and  I  greatly  en- 
joyed, even  in  my  weak  condition, 
a  close  game  between  the  two  clubs 
in  which  our  fellows  finally  pulled 
out  a  victory. 

The  only  very  clear  recollection  of 
my  school  days  that  year  was  the 
presentation  of  a  new  testament  to 
me  by  my  teacher  which  1  have  be- 
fore me  as  I  write.  It  has  my  name 
on  the  fly  leaf  with  the  day  it  wais 
given  me,  Oct.    14th,    18.51. 

And  now,  a  word  about  "the 
stocks."  This  was  an  uncomfort- 
able institution  invented  for  the 
punishment  of  minor  offendors 
against  the  law;  it  was  used  to 
some  extent  even  as  late  as  the  mid- 
dle of  the  nineteenth  century,  and 
may  be  at  the  present  time  in  some 
places  for  aught  I  know.  There  was 
one  of  these  machines  at  Wooburn 
Green,  and  on  a  few  occasions  I 
have  seen  it  occupied,  though  not 
often.  It  was  an  affair  made  of  two 
planks  through  which  half  circles 
were  made,  which  when  they  were 
shut  together  formed  round  holes 
large  enough  to  admit  a  man's  ankle, 
but  too  small  for  his  feet  to  pass 
througfl.  The  offender  was  locked 
in  by  his  ankles  and  compelled  to 
sit  on  the  ground  in  that  uncom- 
fortable position  as  long  as  his  sent- 
ence lasted.  Of  course  such  a  spec- 
tacle as  a  man  in  the  stocks  was  a 
source  of  immense  amusement  to 
boys,  especially  if  the  unfortunate 
sufferer  happened  to  be  there  for 
drunkenness,    which     was     generally 


the  case.  The  boys  made  the  most 
of  the  amusement,  it  was  away 
ahead  of  any  other  diversion  for  the 
baser  sort  and  even  those  who  rated 
themselves  as  belonging  to  the  bet- 
ter classes  were  not  averse  to  the 
fun;  so  they  would  gather  around 
the  unfortunate  culprit,  offering  all 
sorts  of  suggestions  touching  the 
best  way  to  "cut  loose,"  making  tho 
absurdest  remarks  about  his  ap- 
pearance. Was  he  as  comfortable  as 
could  reasonably  be  expected  under 
the  circumstances?  Would  he  like 
to  send  a  message  to  his  friends? 
Was  there  anything  he  thought  he 
might  like  to  drink?  Would  he  sing 
to  them,  "Home,  sweet  home,"  if 
they  would  join  in  the  chorus?  And 
thus  the  young  rascals  worried  and 
pestered  their  helpless  victim  until 
they  were  driven  oft'  by  the  con 
stable. 

One  day,  early  in  March,  18.5.1, 
my  father  said  to  me,  "Harry,  do 
you  think  you  could  paint  some  let- 
ters on  a  board?"  "Why,  yes,"  I 
replied,  "I  think  I  could."  "Well," 
he  said,  "I  will  tell  you  something, 
we  are  going  to  leave  England  for 
America  as  soon  as  we  can  get 
things  settled  up  here  and  we  will 
need  some  lettering  on  boxes;  I  will 
have  some  made  and  then  you  can 
try  your  hand   on   them." 

So  in  a  few  days  the  chests  were 
made  and  sent  to  us,  I  took  a  brush 
and  some  black  paint  which  my 
father  had  procured  and  painted  in 
pretty  fair  shape  the  following 
words,  "S.  Green,  Passenger  to  New 
York." 

CHAPTER    IV. 

So  we  were  to  leave  old  England, 
the  land  of  my  birth  and  my  home 
for    the    first    fourteen    years    of    my 


THE   SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


19 


life.  I  did  not  think  much  about 
it  at  the  time  except  that  the  an- 
nouncement filled  me  with  joyous 
anticipations.  I  looked  forward 
rather  than  backward  in  that  hour, 
the  backward  looking  came  later. 
We  were  going  to  America;  where 
was  America;  wliat  was  America? 
...y  people  seemed  to  know  very  lit- 
tle about  it  except  in  a  general  way; 
none  of  us  had  any  clear  concep- 
tion of  what  America  was  like,  we 
were  much  befogged,  as  might  be 
expected.  It  was  a  plunge  in  the 
Clark  to  us  youngsters,  but  if  the 
older  minds  had  serious  doubts  as 
to  tlie  wisdom  of  the  move,  the 
younger  had  none  whatever.  To  me 
it  was  a  great  occasion,  I  was  go- 
ing to  America;  if  they  had  told 
me  we  were  going  to  Botany  Bay  it 
would  have  bf^en  the  same  to  me, 
I  think.  As  it  was,  it  was  a  lark, 
a  great  trip,  a  big  journey;  we  were 
going  to  travel  by  land  and  also  by 
water,  by  stage,  by  cars,  by  ship, 
by  boat  and  in  every  other  old  way, 
hip!  hip!  hip!  hurrah!  I  was  going 
to  America;  it  made  me  "chesty," 
I  sprang  at  once  into  a  person  of 
consequence  among  the  kids  of  our 
town,  and  why  shouldn't  I?  They 
were  not  going  to  America,  I  was; 
and  I  strutted  around  and  made  my- 
self ridiculous  overlording  it  among 
my  boy  friends  who  began  to  look 
at  me  with  a  kind  of  awe  because 
I  was  going  to  America.  But  how 
would  I  like  it?  It  would  be  so 
different  from  all  my  experience. 
Would  there  be  good  fishing,  good 
hunting,  did  they  play  cricket  in 
America,  and  did  they  have  mince 
pies  there,  because  if  they  didn't  I 
wouldn't  like  it. 

My  father  was  pleased  with  the 
idea  of  emigration  to  America,  to 
him    it    offered    better    opportunities 


than  were  to  be  had  at  home,  some 
of  which  were  afterward  realized. 
To  my  mother  the  prospect  was  not 
flattering,  the  thought  of  breaking 
away  from  the  ties  of  a  lifetime  was 
not  a  pleasant  one.  To  her  it  meant 
leaving  home  never  to  behold  it 
again,  and  going  away  to  a  far-off 
land  of  which  she  knew  little  or 
nothing,  to  begin  again  the  battle 
of  Mfe  under  conditions  which  were 
altogether  unfamiliar  to  her  and 
really  alarming;  to  be  deprived  of 
the  simple  comforts  to  which  she 
had  been  accustomed  all  her  life,  to 
make  a  new  home  in  the  wilderness 
among  strange  people.  It  was  a 
hard  thing  to  ask  of  a  woman  in 
advanced  years,  whose  affections  all 
clustered  around  her  home  and  her 
native  land.  You  can  transplant  a 
young  tree  and  it  will  thrive,  but 
not  an  old  one,  for  the  old  one  does 
not  take  kindly  to  new  soil.  Going 
to  America  meant  much  more  to  her 
than  to  any  of  the  rest  of  us,  and 
she  never  lived  to  see  the  day,  when, 
comparing  the  new  with  the  old, 
she  did  not  look  back  with  sadness 
to  the  hour  she  set  sail  for  America. 
If  she  ever  became  at  all  reconciled 
to  the  change  it  must  have  been  be- 
cause her  eldest  son,  William,  had 
been  in  the  United  States  a  year,  and 
had  written  back  some  accounts  of 
the  country  and  the  prospects  for  its 
future  development,  so  it  was  his 
letters  that  opened  the  way  for  our 
coming,  little  as  they  had  to  offer 
in  the  way  of  inducement  to  my 
mother.  Another  son,  Thomas,  who 
was  married  and  lived  in  London, 
determined  with  his  wife  to  go  with 
us,  so  the  matter  was  settled  and 
all  arrangements  made  for  our  de- 
parture. 

The  good  ship  Sir  Robert  Peel  was 
lying    at    her    dock    in     the     Thames, 


THR   SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


when  we  arrived  in  London.  Im- 
mediately going  on  board  we  were 
passed  into  the  steerage  and  there 
our  troubles  began.  If  we  had  been 
able  to  pay  for  our  passage  even  in 
the  second  cabin,  it  would  have  been 
altogether  different,  there  we  would 
have  enjoyed  some  comforts,  but  my 
father  had  met  with  misfortune,  he 
had  lost  almost  all  that  he  had 
possessed,  so  that  he  was  unable  to 
pay  the  high  prices  demanded  for 
cabin  passage,  and  there  was  there- 
fore nothing  better  for  us  than  the 
steerage. 

The  Sir  Robert  Peel  was  a  sailing 
vessel  of  eighteen  hundred  Ions 
burthen,  and  for  that  day  was  a 
good  average  craft.  Her  captain  was 
every  inch  a  gentleman,  a  fine  ca- 
pable officer  who  won  the  respect  of 
all  on  board.  Many  years  after- 
ward, I  happened  to  be  a  guest  in 
the  home  of  Governor  and  Mrs.  Lar- 
rabee,  at  Clermont,  Iowa.  The  con- 
versation at  the  table  turning  upon 
ocean  voyages,  the  governor  asked 
me  the  name  of  the  vessel  on  which 
I  had  crossed  the  ocean.  I  replied: 
"The  Sir  Robert  Peel."  "Why,  he 
said  with  a  smile,  "My  brother  was 
captain  of  that  ship."  "At  the  time 
we  crossed  the  captain's  name  was 
Chadwick,"  I  replied.  "Yes,"  he 
assented,  "at  that  time  it  was  Cap- 
tain Chadwick,  and  my  brother  was 
first  hiate;  he  afterward  succeeded 
to  the  command  of  the  ship."  Up- 
on reflection  I  was  able  to  recall  Mr. 
Larrabee  as  an  efficient  and  gentle- 
manly officer.  The  steerage  was 
crowded  with  passengers,  who,  like 
ourselves,  were  bound  for  "the 
States."  There  were  four  hundred 
and  fifty  of  them  of  various  nation- 
alities, quite  enough  to  make  it  in- 
teresting for  the  rest  of  us.  If  the 
black    hole    of    Calcutta    was    much 


worse  than  that  steerage,  God  pity 
the  poor  wrevches  wlio  were  shut 
up  in  it.  Of  course  the  officers  did 
everything  in  their  power  to  make 
the  place  endurable,  but  the  moral 
and  sanitary  conditions  were  ter- 
rible. It  could  not  well  be  othei-- 
wise,  nearly  five  hundred  people 
crowded  into  so  small  a  space,  some 
of  whom  were  shamelessly  filthy. 
The  stench  at  times  became  so  un- 
bearable that  we  complained  to  the 
officers  and  the  wretched  crowd  was 
driven  to  the  deck,  and  tar  was 
burned  in  the  steerage  to  purify  the 
place;  at  that  it  was  no  worse  than 
other  ships  and  quite  likely  it  wns 
much  better  than  some  of  them. 

From  that  time  to  this,  after  an 
interval  of  over  fifty  years,  I  still 
retain  the  remembrance  of  those 
noisome  emigrant  odors.  Indeed  it 
is  inconceivable  how^  any  person  who 
has  been  obliged  to  endure  it  for 
any  length  of  time,  could  ever  for- 
get it;  you  would  know  it  among 
a  thousand,  wherever  you  might 
chance  to  meet  it.  A  few  years  ago 
I  was  walking  down  Broadway,  New 
York,  in  company  with  a  friend;  we 
were  heading  for  Castle  Garden, 
hoping  that  we  might  witness  the 
docking  of  some  incoming  ocean 
greyhound.  Long  before  we  reach- 
ed the  point  we  were  aiming  for  I 
suddenly  stopped  and  began  sniffing 
the  air.  "What  in  the  world  are 
you  snuffing  at,"  laughingly  asked 
my  friend,  "What  is  the  matter?" 
"Can't  you  smell  it?"  I  excitedly 
asked  him.  "Smell  nothing,"  he  re- 
torted, "Are  you  crazy?"  "Not  on 
your  life,"  I  indignantly  cried,  ".Just 
wait  a  bit  and  you'll  see."  And  sure 
enough,  in  a  few  minutes  they  came 
alongside,  a  large  party  of  them; 
they  had  just  landed  and  with  (heir 
dunnage    tied    up     in     bundles      and 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COM^fONER 


elung  over  their  shouldeis,  were 
making  headway  up  the  street,  and 
I  eould  scent  them  from  afar,  they 
had   come  to  America. 

It  was  not  long  after  we  had  gone 
aboard  that  the  ship  having  complet- 
ed her  lading,  began  slowly  dropping 
down  the  river  in  tow  of  a  tug,  care- 
fully feeling  her  way  amid  the  in- 
iricate  maps  of  river  and  sea-going 
craft.  Both  sides  of  the  Thames 
were  lined  with  cities  and  towns,  on 
down  to  its  mouth.  We  wei'e  leav- 
ing the  old  country  for  the  new. 
To  my  younger  sister  and  me  it  was 
a  picnic,  it  was  great,  but  to  all  the 
rest  of  the  family  it  did  not  appear 
just  that  way,  to  them  it  was  full 
of  sadness,  they  never  expected  to 
look  upon  those  shores  again.  This 
land  of  Poets,  Philosophers,  War- 
riors, Statesmen,  Preachers,  Auth- 
01  s.  Painters,  Sculptors  and  makeis 
of  homes;  this  land  of  green  mea- 
dows fragrant  with  the  odors  of 
roses  and  violets,  beautified  with 
the  cowslip,  the  primrose,  daisies 
and  buttercups;  melodious  with  the 
song  of  the  thrush  and  the  nightin- 
gale. 
"Green  fields  of  England,  whereso'er 

Across  this  watery  waste  we  fare. 
Your   image   at    our   hearts   we   bear. 

Green    fields    of     England,     every- 
where." 

Dear  old  England!  We  will  never 
forget  thee.  Night  comes  on  and 
the  morning  dawns;  the  good  ship 
Sir  Robert  Peel,  bound  from  Lon- 
don to  New  York,  is  well  0:1  her 
way;  she  sails  down  the  Kentish 
coast,  through  the  straits  of  Dover, 
r.asr  the  Isle  of  Wight,  or,  as  a  na- 
tive of  Bucks  would  call  it,  "Oily 
Woit,"  through  the  English  Chan- 
nel, passes  Land's  End  and  away  to 
the  westward  and  the  untried  ex- 
periences   ci    a    new    world.      Iv    was 


not  long  before  we  began  to  pay  tri- 
tube  to  Neptune,  all  but  my  father 
and  my  elder  sister,  Rebecca, 
promptly  and  generously  rendered 
up  our  accounts,  fully  able  to  ap- 
preciate that  line: 

"When  the  swallows  upward  fly." 
We  were  exactly  five  weeks  be- 
tween London  and  New  York,  which 
for  a  sailing  vessel  sixty  years  ago, 
was  considered  a  fair  passage.  We 
were  entertained  nearly  all  the  way 
by  a  young  lady  of  much  talent.  She 
was  a  vocalist,  possessing,  as  she 
herself  readily  admitted,  a  voice  of 
much  sweetness  and  power.  The 
lady  was  also  blessed  with  a  be- 
nevolent disposition  which  induced 
her  to  carol  for  the  poor  sailors  in 
the  forecastle,  most  of  whom  ap- 
peared greatly  to  enjoy  her  captivat- 
ing musical  ministrations,  for  they 
seldom  failed  to  respond  with  great 
eclat.  It  must  be  admitted  that  her 
repertoire  was  not  as  extensive,  nor 
was  it  as  choice  as  it  might  hav? 
been  if  considered  from  the  stand- 
point of  the  great  artists.  As  a 
matter  of  fact  she  appeared  to  know 
only  one  song,  but  then  it  must  be 
said  to  her  credit,  that  what  was 
lacking  in  variety,  was  more  than 
atoned  for  in  zealous  repetition. 
There  was  never  any  doubt  among 
the  passengers  as  to  her  familarity 
with  "Cheer,  Boys,  Cheer,"  which 
she  rendered  with  unflagging  zeal, 
and  the  sailors  always  responded 
with  salvos  of  applause  and  encored 
time  and  again  to  her  intense  sat- 
isfaction. Unfortunately  however, 
there  was  one  drawback,  which  to 
most  artists  would  have  been  some- 
thing of  a  handicap;  she  appeared 
to  have  few  if  any  admirers  other 
than  the  sailors  before  the  mast. 
The  passengers  were  either  deaf  to 
music  or  they  were  unable  to  appre- 


THE   SIMPLE   LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


ciate  her  particular  rendition.  I 
noticed  that  this  singular  attitude 
was  most  pronounced  among  the  la- 
dies, a  fact  which  at  the  time  deeply 
impressed  my  juvenile  mind.  That 
gifted  lady  was  not  to  be  silenced 
by  this  cold  indifference,  however, 
for  she  never  ceased  to  warble  till 
we  dropped  anchor  at  the  port  of 
New  York. 

Two  or  three  j'oung  whales  were 
righted  at  a  distance,  a  shark  fol- 
lowed the  ship  for  several  days 
which  the  sailors  said  was  a  sure 
sign  that  there  would  be  a  death  on 
board  before  long,  and  they  were 
right.  Schools  of  porpoises  or  sea 
piges  as  they  were  called,  frequently 
appeared  about  the  ship;  acres  of 
them  gambolling  in  the  waters  and 
flashing  in  the  sunlight,  delighted 
tiie  passengers  for  hours  at  a  time. 
About  four  weeks  after  we  sailed 
and  the  novelty  had  worn  off  we  be- 
gan to  get  anxious  to  see  land  again. 
I  asked  one  of  the  sailors  when  we 
would  reach  New  York;  he  laid  one 
hand  on  my  shoulder  and  with  the 
other  pointing  directly  over  the  bow 
of  the  ship,  said.  "Do  you  see  that 
hill  yonder?"  I  replied  that  I  did, 
for  it  often  appears  as  you  look  for- 
ward at  sea  as  though  there  was  a 
big  hill  which  would  have  to  be 
climbed.  "Well,  sonny,"  he  said, 
"When  we  get  to  the  top  of  that  hill 
we  shall  be  in  New  York.  "Where- 
upon I  thanked  him  for  his  cour- 
tesy  and   slowly   moved   aft. 

We  experienced  some  very  severe 
storms  on  the  passage,  when  it  be- 
came necessary  to  send  all  the  pas- 
sengers below  and  batten  down  the 
hatches  secure  against  the  waves, 
which  swept  over  the  ship  quite  four 
feet  deep,  but  like  the  statesman  for 
whom  she  was  named,  she  always 
managed    to    right    herself    and    sail 


serenely  on.  In  due  time  the  banks 
of  Newfoundland  were  reached.  Of 
course  there  was  a  fog  prevailing, 
there  generally  is  a  fog  on  the 
"Banks"  and  it  became  necessary 
to  shorten  sail  and  move  cautiously 
on  account  of  the  numerous  fishing 
smacks  which  are  known  to  be  ply- 
ing their  vocation  in  those  waters 
where  cod  abound.  We  passed  the 
banks  in  safety  and  after  a  voyage 
of  exactly  five  weeks,  dropped  an- 
chor  in  New   York   harbor. 

It  was  a  warm  afternoon  toward 
the  last  of  May,  the  weather  was  all 
that  could  be  desired,  and  we  were 
able  to  get  fine  views  of  all  that 
could  be  seen  as  we  entered  the  har- 
bor. Wearied  with  the  long  tedious 
voyage  we  were  very  glad  to  be 
ashore  once  more  and  stretch  our 
legs  on  the  soil  or  rather  the  pave- 
ment  of  the  new   world. 

It  was  an  auspicious  landing,  ev- 
erything promised  well,  but  oh,  how 
hungry  we  all  were,  all  but  mother; 
if  she  was  hungry  she  gave  no  sign 
of  it  for  when  we  were  shown  a 
place  where  we  could  get  something 
to  eat  after  the  ship  biscuit,  black 
sugar,  rice  and  bad  tea  we  had  been 
living  on  so  long,  she  ate  nothing; 
the  rest  of  us  ate  heartily,  I  know 
I  did,  and  the  food  tasted  good  to 
me,  but  then  I  did  not  know  what 
it  was  made  of;  it  was  mostly  hash 
and  I  was  hungry. 

We  remained  in  New  York  only 
long  enough  to  procure  tickets  to 
Buffalo,  which  we  reached  after  a 
pleasant  run  over  the  New  York  and 
Erie  railway,  as  it  was  then  called. 
The  change  from  the  Atlantic  ocean 
to  terra  firma,  from  the  steerage  of 
the  ship  to  the  comfortable  open 
cars  was  a  very  agreeable  one  and 
was  enjoyed  by  all  of  us.  At  Buf- 
falo   we    took    steamer    for    Chicago. 


THE  SIMPLE   LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


23 


where  we  arrived  after  an  unevent- 
ful trip  over  the  lakes.  Chicago,  at 
that  time  just  a  common,  ordinary 
town  located  in  a  swamp  on  the 
shore  of  lake  :Michigan;  not  one  of 
us  had  the  faintest  idea  of  what  it 
was  destined  to  become  in  the  near 
future.  If  we  had  known  then  what 
afterward  came  to  pass,  it  is  quite 
likely  the  destiny  of  our  family 
would  have  been  quite  different. 
Chicago,  metropolis  of  the  west, 
great  commercial  center  of  an  em- 
pire, synonym  for  all  that  means  en- 
terprise, push,  energy,  thrift,  faith 
and  determination.  For  all  these 
things  and  for  her  marvelous  growth 
she  has  no  rival  in  all  the  world. 

We  had  already  travelled  more 
than  three  thousand  miles  by  water 
since  leaving  London,  but  we  were 
by  no  means  done  with  it  yet,  for 
at  Chicago  we  boarded  a  boat  on  the 
Illinois-Michigan  canal  and  once 
more  took  up  our  pilgrimage,  with 
La  Salle,  Illinois,  as  our  first  objec- 
tive point.  We  had  gotten  down  to 
a  canal  boat,  what  next?  Don't 
smile,  the  Illinois  and  Michigan 
canal  at  that  time  was  a  very  im- 
portant thoroughfare,  for  it  con- 
nected Lake  IMichigan  with  the  na- 
vigable waters  of  the  Illinois  river, 
and  that  meant  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawr- 
ence with  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  More- 
over, it  was  a  change  and  that  was 
something,  besides,  it  gave  us  an  op- 
portunity to  walk  occasionally,  and 
after  all  the  distance  was  not  so 
very  great,  only  one  hundred  miles, 
and  after  five  weeks  in  the  steerage 
of  a  sailing  vessel  in  the  company 
of  four  hundred  other  emigrants  we 
were  ready   for  almost   anything. 

So  we  journeyed  on  till  we  reach- 
ed La  Salle.  There  we  sojourned 
for  three  weeks,  which  gave  my 
mother    and    sisters    a    much    neerled 


rest  for  they  were  almost  worn  out 
with  the  long,  continuous  traveling 
under  such  depressing  conditions. 
My  father  and  I  obtained  employ- 
ment during  our  stay  at  La  Salle, 
which  had  really  become  almost  a 
necessity  for  our  funds  were  getting 
lew.  I  was  employed  at  a  bakery 
and  was  paid  all  that  my  services 
were  worth.  Suddenly  one  evening 
while  strolling  along  the  shores  of 
the  canal  a  little  good  fortune  came 
upon  me.  I  found  several  pieces  of 
silver  amounting  in  all  to  between 
two  and  three  dollars;  of  course  I 
was  greatly  elated  over  what  I  had 
found  and  I  thought  if  America  was 
all  like  this  it  would  not  be  so  bad. 
Soon  after  our  arrival  at  La  Salle 
I  was  sent  to  a  grocery  store  to 
make  some  purchases  for  the  house. 
Among  other  things  I  was  directed 
to  get  a  pound  of  treacle,  but  alas, 
when  I  asked  the  groceryman  for 
it  he  was  bewildered;  I  could  not 
make  him  understand  what  I  want- 
ed. He  was  all  abroad  and  I  was 
completely  at  sea;  he  showed  me 
some  pickles  and  wanted  to  know 
if  that  was  what  I  wanted  and  when 
I  said  "no,"  he  suggested  crackers, 
vinegar,  salt,  pepper  and  many 
other  things  all  good  in  their  places, 
but  none  of  them  was  what  I  was 
after.  Then  he  wanted  to  know  what 
in  blazes  treacle  looked  like  anyhow, 
and  what  they  did  with  it.  I  told 
him  it  looked  like — like — like  trea- 
cle, and  they  ate  it  when  they  could 
get  it,  which  had  not  been  very 
often  of  late.  At  that  he  became 
quite  uneasy,  "could  I  see  it  any- 
where, was  it  in  any  of  them  boxes 
or  packages?"  I  was  confident  it 
was  not,  "Well,"  he  said,  "I'll  be 
durned."  Happily,  however,  he  was 
saved  from  such  a  catastrophe  for 
just  then  I  caught  sight  of  a  barrel 


21 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


which  looked  as  though  it  might 
contain  what  I  wanled,  so  I  sa:d: 
"What's  in  that  barrel?"  "Molas- 
ses." he  replied.  "It  looks  like  it 
might  be  treacle,"  I  said,  whereup- 
on he  went  to  the  barrel  and  drew 
a  little  of  its  contents  on  a  piece  of 
white  paper.  "That's  what  I'm  af- 
ter," I  said,  at  which  he  snapped 
out.  "Why  didn't  you  say  you 
wanted  molasses  in  the  first  place  so 
as  not  to  make  so  much  trouble,  the 
fool  notion  of  callin'  molasses  trea- 
cle and  wantin'  to  buy  it  by  the 
pound;  these  blamed  t'urriners  don't 
know  nothin'  nohow.  "  But  there 
was  nothing  the  matter  with  the 
molasses  and  I  was  already  begin- 
ning to  learn   things. 

After  the  family  had,  as  we 
I  bought,  sufficiently  recovered  from 
the  fatigues  of  travel  and  my  father 
and  I  had  earned  enough  with  what 
we  had  on  hand  to  carry  u.-?  through, 
preparations  were  made  for  an  im- 
mediate move  still  farther  wesiv/ard, 
in  the  van  of  the  course  of  empire. 
Taking  passage  on  an  Illinois  river 
boat  at  Peru,  we  were  carried  down 
that  stream  past  Peoria  to  Its  mouth 
at  Grafton;  then  down  the  Missis- 
sippi river  to  St.  Louis,  where  we 
c-anged  to  an  up  river  boat  whose 
prow  was  pointed  toward  the  north 
star.  We  were  now  breasting  the 
current  of  the  "Father  of  Waters," 
pushing  our  devious  passage  up 
stream,  always  keeping  the  channel 
by  day  or  by  night,  nosing  our  way 
in  and  out  among  the  snags  and 
sawyers,  avoiding  by  ceaseless  vigil- 
ance every  shifting  treacherous 
sandbar.  The  pilot  was  a  prince 
among  men,  who  never  failed  to  de- 
mand or  to  receive  the  homage  of 
his   subjects. 

We  were  slowly  nearing  what  was 
to  be  our  future  home.      A  sailor  on 


the  Sir  Robert  Peel  had  asked  me 
where  we  were  going  to  settle  when 
we  got  to  Amrica,  and  I  had  replied, 
in  Iowa.  He  appeared  to  be  groggy 
for  a  moment,  but  soon  he  got  his 
sea  legs  under  him  and  righting  ship 
he  said,  "No,  you  ain't  goin'  to  Iowa, 
ther'  ain't  no  sich  place  as  Iowa, 
you  mean  Ohio."  I  was  staggered 
for  a  moment  but  recovering  I  as- 
sured him  it  was  Iowa,  and  told  him 
my  brother  William  had  been  there 
a  year  and  had  written  us  where  it 
was  and  how  to  get  there.  And  here 
we  were  at  last  after  nearly  eight 
weeks  on  the  way,  by  land  and  by 
sea,  by  railroad,  by  lakes,  by  canal 
and  by  rivers,  having  journeyed  over 
four  thousand  miles.  We  walked 
clov.n  the  gang  plank  of  our  steam- 
er at  a  lively  gait,  and  were  warmly 
greeted  by  our  relatives  at  L,yon». 
Iowa.  Our  journeyings  were  over 
and  the  new  life  in  this  woria  was 
before  us.  If  we  could  have  run 
direct  across  the  state  of  Illinois 
from  Chicago  as  the  Chicago  an! 
Northwestern  railway  now  runs,  we 
would  have  been  saved  much  time 
and  labor  and  worry,  but  there  wen- 
no  railroads  out  of  Chicago  for  Iowa 
in  those  days,  so  we  were  obliged 
to  travel  many  hundreds  of  miles 
out   of  the  direct  course. 


CHAPTER  V. 
Lyons  at  that  time  was  well  on 
the  frontier.  It  had  a  population 
of  three  or  four  hundred.  There 
were  three  general  stores,  all  on 
the  river  bank,  a  weekly  newspaper, 
called  the  Clinton  Mirror,  which  still 
continues  its  weekly  visits  to  its 
patrons;  there  were  two  attorneys, 
one  of  which  became  a  great  crim- 
inal law^yer  and  noted  politician; 
there  were  also  (wo  physicians,  a 
few   mechanics   and   a    general   popu- 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  TOMMONER 


•Jo 


latioii    such    as    was    to    be    found    in 
all  villages  in  a  new  country. 

Concerning  a  house  located  a 
short  distance  south  of  Lyons  and 
occnpied  by  a  family  with  whom  our 
people  became  quite  familiar,  a  cor- 
respondent of  a  ^Minneapolis  paper, 
has    this    to    say: 

"A  relic  of  ante-bellum  days,  be- 
fore the  proclamation  of  Abraham 
Lincoln  set  free  the  black  man, 
exists  in  Clinton  in  the  shape  of  an 
ancient  stone  house  on  I^luff  boule- 
vard. 

The  house  has  the  distinction  of 
having  been  used  as  an  "under- 
grcund  slave  station"  during  the 
civil  war.  The  name  "underground 
station"  for  slaves  describes  those 
places  of  refuge  in  which  runaway 
s  aves  from  the  south,  who  had 
made  their  way  across  the  Mason 
and  Dixon  line,  were  received  and 
sheltered.  A  black  skin  was  an 
open  sesame  to  the  "underground 
stations."  Now,  after  the  passage 
of  nearly  half  a  century  few  of  these 
luiildings  are  to  be  found,  having 
lest  their  identity  as  places  of  refuge 
for   the   runaways. 

The  old  house  has  been  unten- 
anted for  many  years.  After  the 
war  was  over  it  acquired  an  unsav- 
ory reputation  as  a  resort  for 
tramps  and  vagrants.  The  super- 
stitious, too,  declared  that  the 
spirits  of  negro  slaves  came  back  to 
haunt    the    old    house." 

It  was  toward  tne  end  of  .Tune 
when  we  arrived  in  Lyons  and  as 
might  be  expected,  there  was  little 
of  a  pul)lic  character  to  occupy  at- 
tention or  furnish  diversion.  The 
Fourth  of  .luly  was,  however,  a  day 
to  be  remembered,  it  was  the  great 
national  holiday,  the  only  day  of 
the  entire  year  wholly  given  over  to 
patriotism  and  noise;  Memoria,! 
Day,  which  has  largely  supplanted 
the  Fourth  of  July,  Labor  Day  and 
Harbor  Day  were  then  unknown. 
To  be  sure  St.  Patrick's  Day  was 
celibrated    wherever    Irishmen    were 


to  be  found  in  any  considerable 
numbers,  but  that  was  not  an 
American  institution,  it  was  a  mat- 
ter to  be  left  entirely  to  the  wear- 
ers of  the  green  and  their  lively 
enemies,  the  orange  men,  who 
fought  it  out  together  on  the  lines 
of  "St.  Patrick's  Day"  and  the 
"Boyne  Water."  We  were  going  to 
celebrate  the  "Glorious  Fourth," 
and  it  must  be  done  in  grand  style; 
preparations  had  been  going  on  for 
some  time,  committees  had  been 
appointed  to  cover  every  thing  ac- 
tual and  conceivable,  so  that  noth- 
ing would  be  overlooked;  every 
able  bodied  man  in  the  village  and 
most  of  the  women  had  a  place 
somewhere  on  some  committee,  so 
that  no  one  might  have  a  reason- 
able cause  for  complaint  because 
they  had  been  overlooked,  while 
others  no  better  than  they  had  been 
given  places  where  they  had  a 
chance    to    show    off. 

All  arrangements  were  fina  lly 
completed,  the  morning  of  the 
Fourth  broke  with  the  promise  for 
a  beautiful  day,  the  little  town  was 
in  gala  attire,  bunting  was  display- 
ed on  all  buildings,  a  wheezy  brass 
bard  had  been  dug  up  from  some- 
where and  was  industriously  dis- 
coursing patriotic  music;  delega- 
tions came  in  from  Camanche,  Sa- 
bula  and  from  all  the  regions  round 
about,  most  of  t)hem  dressed  in 
their  Sundny  clothes  and  all  bent 
on    having    a    good    time. 

"We're  here  to  celebrate  b'gosh, 
an'  we're  goin"  to  do  it  right,  yes, 
siree." 

The  cannon  which  was  of  the  an- 
vil variety  had  been  noisily  booming 
it's  welcome  from  sunrise,  fire 
crackers  were  being  judiciously  ex- 
ploded by  the  small  boys  who  knew 
well    enough    that    it    was    necessary 


2(> 


THE  SIMPLE   LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


to  be  very  economical  with  them, 
they  cost  a  lot  of  money  and  money 
was  hard  to  get  hold  of,  so  they 
made  them  go  as  far  as  possible, 
and  when  they  were  all  gone  they 
looked  sorrowful  and  sighed  for 
more.  The  giant  cracker  had  not 
been  born  then  so  there  was  not  the 
danger  there  is  now,  but  there  was 
quite  as  much  fun,  it  is  not  always 
those  who  have  the  most  to  do  with 
that  enjoy  life  the  most.  It  is 
claimed  that  the  man  with  a  com- 
fortable substance  has  a  happier 
time  then  the  millionaire.  The  lit- 
tle girl  with  a  rag  doll  enjoys  that 
better .  than  she  does  a  costly  wax 
affair,  and  the  boy  with  a  bent  pin 
or  a  cheap  hook  attached  to  a 
cheap  line  tied  to  a  crooked  pole 
catches  more  fish  than  the  other 
person  with  his  elaborate  tackle  and 
all  his  swell  outfit.  "Ice  cream  and 
lemonade  made  in  the  shade,  only 
five  cents  a  glass,  (no  nickels  in 
circulation)  only  five  cents,  step 
right  this  way  gentlemen,  bring  up 
your  ladies,  here  you  are,  sir;  yes, 
sir,  five  cents  a  glass,  all  right, 
thankee  sir." 

At  precisely  10:. 30  a.  m.,  the  pro- 
cession headed  by  the  band  took 
up  its  line  of  march  for  the  grove 
where  a  platform  had  been  erected 
for  the  Speaker  of  the  Day, 
the  Chaplain,  the  Band  the 
Vocalists  and  quite  a  number  of 
public  functionaries  besides  one  or 
two  Mexican  war  veterans  and  a 
survivor  of  the  war  of  1812.  Im- 
mediately following  the  band  came 
a  farm  wagon  on  which  was  a  hay- 
rack nicely  covered  -with  bunting; 
seated  on  the  hayrack  were  a  suf- 
ficient number  of  young  masses  to 
represent  the  different  states  of 
the  Union,  all  of  them  dressed  in 
Avhite     and     carrying     small     flags; 


next  came  the  President  of  the  Day, 
the  Orator,  the  Reader,  and  the 
Chaplain  in  a  carriage,  and  after 
them  a  quartette  of  singers,  (male 
voices)  and  citizens  on  foot  and  in 
carriages  including  honored  quests 
from  the  neighboring  towns.  The 
program  had  been  duly  published  in 
two  issues  of  the  Clinton  Mirror  and 
posters  had  been  put  up  in  promin- 
ent places  over  the  "city."  One  of 
them  was  tacked  to  the  front  of  the 
platform  where  everybody  could 
see  it:  — 

FOrilTH    OF    Jl  LY. 

Cii'juul   Celebration  at  Lyons. 

PatJ'iots   to  the   Front. 

The  citizens  of  Clinton  and  Jack- 
son counties  will  celebrate  the  Sev- 
enty-seventh Anniversary  of  our 
National  Independence  at  Lyons, 
Iowa,    .July    Fourth,    185.3. 

Let   Kver>')0(l.v    Come. 

President  of  the  Day:  Gen. 
George  Washington  Stumbaugh. 

Orator:  Hon.  Thomas  Jefferson 
Spindletcu,    of   Le    Claire. 

Then  followed  the  names  of  the 
chaplain,  the  reader  of  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence  and  a  long  list 
of  Vice  Presidents  representing  the 
the  adjoining  towns.  Following  the 
several  townships  in  the  county,  also 
exercises  in  the  grove,  a  big  barbe- 
cue dinner  was  to  be  served  at 
which  an  ox  was  to  be  roasted  whole 
and  everybody  would  be  welcome. 
In  the  afternoon  the  Grand  Unque- 
d'l.nck  would  parade  tli rough  the 
principal  streets  with  his  Ram- 
shackle Pollywogs;  all  sorts  of 
games  would  follow  the  parade,  in- 
cluding a  sack  race,  catching  a 
greased  pig.  and  climbing  a  greased 
pole.  The  whole  to  wind  up  v/ith  a 
grand    display    of    fireworks    in    the 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


evening  and  a  big  bowry  dance; 
come   everybody,   come   all. 

After  the  opening  exercises  which 
consisted  of  patriotic  music  by  the 
band,  a  patriotic  song  by  the  male 
quartette,  a  patriotic  prayer  by  the 
chaplain,  another  patriotic  song  by 
the  male  quartette,  dramatic  read- 
ing of  (hat  "immortal  instrument, 
the  Declaration  of  Independence," 
followed  by  another  patriotic  tune 
by  the  band,  the  President  of  the 
Day,  "in  a  few  well  chosen  remarks" 
in  the  course  of  which  he  took  oc- 
casion to  congratulate  the  "vast 
ihrong"  before  him  on  their  pres- 
ence here  today,  showing  by  that 
very  presence  that  they  were  true 
patriots,  who  loved  their  country 
above  all  else,  yes,  sir,  they  could 
point  Avlth  pride  to  the  glorious  fact 
tliat  they  were  descendents  of  the 
men  v/ho  fought  at  Bunker  Hill  and 
Yorktown.  But  he  would  not  de- 
lain  them,  he  had  no  desire  to 
trench  upon  the  time  which  belong- 
ed to  another.  "You  are  here  today 
my  friends  to  listen  to  an  orator 
whose  fame  has  spread  far  beyond 
the  bounds  of  tlie  state  which  he 
honors  by  his  residence  in  it.  I 
have  the  honor  and  pleasure,  ladies 
and  gentlemen,  of  introducing  to 
you  the  Honorable  Jefferson  Spindle- 
ton  of  Le  Claire,  who  will  address 
you."    (Prolonged    cheers). 

The  Honorable  Jefferson  Spindle- 
ton  promptly  arose  and  with  a  pro- 
found bow  to  the  president  of  the 
day,  stepped  lightly  to  the  front. 
In  appearance,  he  was  decidedly  out 
of  the  ordinary;  that  he  was  no 
common  man  was  plain  to  be  seen, 
in  fact  he  himself  had  said  so  on 
more  than  one  occasion  when  the 
matter  had  been  broached  by  his 
friends.  He  was  tall  and  thin,  he 
neemed    to    have    been    put    together 


in  sections  like  a  telescope  and  when 
he  unjointed  himself  he  was  a  sur- 
prise, he  wore  his  hair  very  long 
and  sleek,  a  tawny  mustache  that 
hung  down  below  his  chin  on  both 
sides  of  his  face  made  him  look  like 
a  telegraph  pole  with  a  yellov; 
streamer  on  it  at  half  mast;  evi- 
dently he  was  a  great  man,  who 
imagined  himself  to  be  no  less  a 
personage  than  Uncle  Sam  himself, 
who,  according  to  Washington  Irv- 
ing, believed  the  earth  tipped  when 
he  went  west: 

"Mr.  President,  ladies  and  gentle- 
men," began  the  orator.  "With  the 
clear  cut  sentences  of  that  immortal 
instrument,  the  Declaration  of  In- 
dependence which  has  just  been  so 
finely  read  to  us,  (here  he  turned 
and  bowed  to  the  reader),  still  ring- 
ing in  our  ears,  the  shadow  on  the 
dial  goes  backward  for  three  quar- 
ters of  a  century  and  we  stand  face 
to  face  with  the  men  and  the  times 
that  tried  men's  souls."  He  then 
proceeded  to  outline  the  causes 
which  led  up  to  the  signing  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  and 
the  War  of  the  Revolution.  "A 
grand  principle,"  said  he,  was  avow- 
ed, but  that  principle  was  to  become 
a  recognized  fact  on  this  continent 
only  after  a  mighty  struggle  with  a 
powerful  foe  running  through  years 
of  sacrifice,  suffering  and  blood- 
shed. After  reviewing  at  length, 
the  progress  which  had  been  made 
in  the  development  of  our  national 
resources,  he  uncovered  a  vein  of 
humor  which  greatly  pleased  his 
listeners.  The  United  States  was 
not  only  a  free  and  independent  peo- 
ple, they  represented  a  nation  in 
the  vigor  and  grit  and  grip  of  young 
manhood,  a  youth  who  has  been 
making  great  strides  in  the  march 
of    progress.       "He    is    close    to    the 


THE   SIMPLE   LIFE  OF  A   CO]\LMONER 


front  right  now,  a  good  looking, 
tall,  well  built,  manly  nobleman  of 
nature,  bis  massive  head  covered 
with  nut-brown  locks;  he  cultivates 
a  mustache  (here  the  speaker  fond- 
ly passed  his  hand  over  his  own 
magnificently  adorned  upper  lip), 
i^corning  a  cigar  but  smoking  a 
corncob  pipe,  a  slang  phrase  at  his 
tongue's  end,  and  a  good  deal  of  lip 
generally.  Oh,  yes,  he  is  some,  he 
is,  he  can  whip  all  creation,  es- 
pecially   the    blamed    Britisher." 

In  this  strain  he  went  on  for 
some  time  to  the  intense  delight  of 
his  auditors.  "Why,"  said  he,  con- 
tinuing. "He  points  you  to  the  bird 
o'freedom  and  tells  you  that  that 
'ere  bird  can  just  put  the  tip  of  one 
of  his  wings  on  the  Green  Moun- 
tains and  the  other  on  the  Rockies 
and  stretch  himself  across  the  con- 
tinent; he  can  rest  his  bill  on  Pike's 
Peak,  and  spread  his  tail  feathers 
over  the  District  of  Columbia,  and 
the  tarnal  critter  can  swoop  down 
and  scream  freedom  in  the  ears  of 
kings  and  queens  till  they  turn  blue, 
so  he  can." 

After  these  touches  of  humor,  Mr. 
Spindleton,  sniffing  the  odors  of  the 
barbecue  which  distinctly  reached 
the  platform  with  an  appetizing  fra- 
grance and  noting  its  effect  on  his 
hungry  audience,  observed  that  he 
was  about  to  finish  his  remarks, 
which  he  very  soon  did,  closing  with 
a  grand  peroration  in  which  he 
dramatically  declared  that  he  saw  a 
vision  of  the  future  development 
and  glorious  destiny  of  Ihis  great 
country. 

Among  other  things,  I  learned 
more  about  the  naughtiness  of 
George  the  Third  that  day  than  I 
had  ever  dreamed  of  before;  it  was 
a  great  occasion  to  me,  the  barbe- 
cue  was  a    revelation.      I   had    never 


seen  anything  like  it  before,  nor 
have  I  seen  anything  like  it  since: 
I  began  to  think  America  was 
"some."  If  I  had  missed  any  of 
the  inspiration  at  the  stand,  I  cer- 
tainly made  up  for  the  loss  at  the 
barbecue,  at  which  I  proved  beyond 
all  question  that  I  was  as  good  an 
American  as  any  native  on  the 
ground. 

Soon  after  the  fourth  my  father 
obtained  employment  aboul  two 
miles  out  of  town  at  Fish's  mill, 
which  was  undergoing  repairs,  so 
ti.e  family  moved  out  to  the  mill 
and  occupied  the  house  of  the  miller 
which  happened  to  be  vacant  at  the 
time.  For  a  few  days  all  went  well, 
my  time  was  occupied  chiefly  in 
fishing  in  the  mill-pond  which  was 
well  stocked  with  sunfish,  also  in 
larrying  .water  to  the  workmen  at 
the  mill,  as  well  as  in  doing  chores 
about  the  house.  We  were  getting 
on  nicely  and  really  enjoying  the 
new  life  upon  which  we  had  enter- 
ed, until  cue  day  my  sister,  .Alary 
Ann,  was  stricken  with  fever  and 
ague;  that  was  something  new  in 
our  experience,  it  was  a  depres'ang 
surprise.  One  after  another  we  were 
brought  low,  until  all  of  us  were 
either  burning  with  fever  or  shiver- 
ing with  cold.  It  was  a  grievous 
thing  that  had  befallen  us  and  that 
at  a  time  when  we  were  least  pre- 
pared to  meet  it.  The  cause  was  the 
malarial  conditions  under  which  we 
were  living,  breaking  up  of  virgin 
soil,  decaying  vegetation  which  was 
extremely  rank  everywhere,  and 
finally  drawing  off  all  water  from 
the  mill-pond.  The  demon  was  in- 
termittent in  his  assaults  for  he 
would  pounce  upon  us  today  and 
let  us  rest  tomorrow;  none  of  us 
shook  every  day  and  in  that  was  our 
cnly    consolation.       Fortunately     we 


THE   SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  CO:\LMONER 


1^9 


were  not  all  clown  at  the  same  time 
so  we  took  our  turns  in  waiting  on 
cne  another.  My  father  woull 
shake  one  day  and  work  the  next 
until  he  became  so  reduced  as  to 
be  unable  to  work  at  all,  and  that 
was  really  the  case  with  all  of  us, 
for  my  own  part  I  distinctly  re- 
member that  I  could  hardly  get 
about  at  all:  so  low  had  my  sister 
Clara  and  I  become  that  we  were 
unable  to  climb  over  a  stake  and 
rider  fence,  we  could  only  crawl  un- 
der or  through  it.  The  doctors  in- 
sisted that  the  evil  spirit  of  the 
ague  could  only  be  expelled  by  calo- 
mel, which  was  supposed  to  be  a 
purgative  of  great  value,  therefore 
we  were  fed  on  calomel.  Whatever 
effect  that  powerful  purgative  may 
have  had  on  the  ague  it  certainly 
salivated  us  good  and  plenty:  it 
loosened  our  teeth,  but  that  did  not 
matter  very  much  under  the  circum- 
stances, seeing  we  had  little  use  for 
teeth  in  the  absence  of  an  appetite. 
In  the  course  of  time,  however,  all 
fully  recovered  and  had  plenty  of 
time  to  philosophize  over  this  new 
feature  of  life  in  a  new  country. 
]\iark  Twain  has  it  that  the  shaking 
ague  is  a  wise  provision  of  nature, 
to  enable  a  person  to  take  exercise 
without  exertion.  If  that  be  true 
nature  must  have  been  very  kind  to 
us  for  we  took  an  immense  amount 
of  exercise  that  summer  and  had 
no  occasion  for  over  exertion. 

In  the  fall  we  moved  back  to  town 
and  I  entered  the  public  school, 
where,  under  the  helpful  stimulus 
of  the  scholars,  I  soon  began  to 
drop  off  my  superfluous  "aitches," 
as  I  had  previously  done  my  En- 
glish clothes.  Some  strong  attach- 
ments were  formed  in  these  school 
days  at  Lyons,  which  remain  to 
this    dav.       Thev    constitute    one    of 


the  brightest  remembrances  of  my 
life  and  will  remain  with  me  as  long 
as  I  live.  The  school  building  was 
a  little  old  brick  one,  containing 
two  rooms  and  was  presided  over 
by  a  -Mr.  Baker,  at  first.  He  was 
an  excellent  teacher  who  managed 
to  inspire  the  scholars  with  a  whole- 
some respect  for  the  rules  and  rea- 
sonable desire  to  g'^-'  on  with  their 
studies.  He  was  followed  by  a  Mr. 
Bell,  a  gentleman  who  filled  the 
position  of  principal  of  the  school 
with  great  acceptability.  I  have  ever 
felt  myself  to  be  greatly  indebted 
to  Mr.  Bell.  He  was  a  careful, 
pains-taking,  wise  administrator 
and  was  esteemed  by  the  whole 
school.  Of  course  both  sexes  occu- 
pied the  same  room,  the  girls  on  one 
side,  the  boys  on  the  other.  It  was 
the  custom  when  any  of  the  scholars 
had  violated  the  rules  of  the  school 
to  send  them  over  to  the  opposite 
side,  a  punishment  thought  to  be 
severe  enough  to  reform  the  wrong- 
doer. I  think  most  of  us  underwent 
that  ordeal  at  one  time  or  another, 
and  a  few  quite  often,  especially  the 
elder  ones.  Indeed  I  have  known 
instances  where  the  punishment  ap- 
peared to  sit  rather  lightly  on  the 
offender,  but  being  a  foreigner,  and 
quite  unaccustomed  to  American 
ways,    I  may  have  been   mistaken. 

Friday  afternoons  were  occasion- 
ally given  over  to  special  exercises 
in  elocution,  which,  though  they 
were  not  considered  a  part  of  the 
curriculum  proper,  were  neverthe- 
less of  sufficient  importance  to  com- 
mand a  good  deal  of  attention,  for 
in  these  exercises  the  art  of  public 
speaking  was  taught,  and  many  a 
youth  was  expected  to  lay  the  foun- 
dation of  future  greatness  at  the 
bar,  on  the  platform,  or  in  the  pul- 
pit,  at  those  exercises.      At   the  close 


•JO 


THE   SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


of  each  school  year  elocutionalry 
exhibits  were  made  in  the  public 
exercises  which  took  place  before 
fond  parents  who  viewed  with  par- 
donable pride  the  efforts  of  their 
boys  and  girls,  fondly  dreaming  of 
the  future  that  lay  before  them,  and 
then  and  there  determining  that 
they  should  be  given  every  oppor- 
tunity to  make  the  most  of  them- 
selves. For  my  own  part,  I  did  not 
take  kindly  to  some  of  the  exercises 
which  were  enjoined  upon  us.  I 
have  never  been  able  to  commit  to 
memory  with  any  degree  of  readi- 
ness, so  upon  my  urgent  request  the 
teacher  allowed  me  to  debate  some 
subject  with  one  of  the  other  boys 
instead  of  "speaking  a  piece."  I 
think  now  it  would  have  been  better 
in  some  ways  if  I  had  taken  my  turn 
with  the  others  at  "Ben  Battle  was 
a  soldier  bold,"  "The  boy  stood  on 
the  burning  deck,"  "The  Turk  lay 
dreaming  of  the  hour,"  "Webster's 
reply  to  Hayne,"  etc.,  etc.,  which 
with  many  others  were  found  in  Mc- 
Guffy's  Fifth  Reader  and  furnished 
the   staple   of  the  orations. 

Occasionally  the  school  was  hon- 
ored with  a  visit  from  one  of  the 
resident  clergymen,  which  was  al- 
ways a  time  of  interest  to  us  for  it 
became  an  occasion  for  relaxation  on 
our  part  as  well  as  an  opportunity 
lor  the  display  of  latent  talent  in 
the  way  of  cartoons  and  side  re- 
marks which  were  not  always  com- 
plimentary to  the  minister,  who  sel- 
dom failed  to  address  us  by  request 
of  the  teacher;  not  that  there  was 
any  disposition  to  be  unruly  or  im- 
pudent, for  the  clergymen  were  all 
highly  respected  by  us.  We  were 
just  youngsters  full  of  mischief 
which  must  have  expression  even  at 
the  expense  of  the  preacher.  The 
drift  of  the  ministerial  remarks  was 


generally  toward  the  prospective, 
the  opportunities  which  lay  before 
us  were  faithfully  set  forth  as  well 
as  the  sacrifices  our  parents  were 
making  in  our  behalf  and  what  they 
and  others  were  expecting  of  us. 
We  were  all  enjoying  the  happiest 
days  of  our  lives,  but  "'ould  soon 
have  to  leave  the  school  and  take 
our  places  in  the  world  to  engage 
in  the  activities  of  life.  We  were 
complimented  on  the  progress  we 
had  made  in  our  studies  and  on 
our  appearance  and  deportment  dur- 
ing school  hours;  we  were  assured 
that  it  was  within  our  power  to 
make  of  ourselves  whatever  we 
would;  we  might  all  win  success  in 
the  world,  some  of  us  would  surely 
gain  distinction  among  our  fellow 
men  and  women;  indeed  it  was  quite 
within  the  range  of  possibilities  for 
us  to  become  President  of  the  Unit- 
ed States  some  day.  I  must  say, 
however,  that  that  statement  was 
always  a  stumper  to  me.  I  drew  the 
line  on  the  presidency,  for  in  the 
first  place  there  were  several  mil- 
lion boys  in  the  United  States  at 
the  time,  a  fact  which  it  seemed  to 
me  would  bar  most  of  us  from  the 
coveted  honor  unless  we  lived  to  a 
very  great  age,  for  even  among  the 
great  statesmen  of  the  country,  only 
here  and  there  one  in  a  lifetime 
has  any  chance  whatever  of  being 
elected  to  the  presidency,  no  matter 
how  high  his  ambition  or  how  well 
fitted  he  may  be  for  the  place.  Then 
there  was  another  thing  which  was 
a  death-blow  to  any  interest  I  might 
have  had  in  the  delusive  prospect 
iBo  temptingly  held  out  to  us.  I 
knew  I  could  have  no  lot  nor  part 
in  the  matter,  I  was  forever  barred 
by  the  constitution  which  requires 
that  the  occupant  of  the  presiden- 
tial   chair    must    be    a     native     born 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


31 


citizen  of  the  United  States;  so 
whenever  the  speaker  reached  that 
part  of  hifi  remarks  my  interest 
naturally  began  to  wane.  Of  course 
the  exploits  of  the  immortal  Wash- 
ington were  dwelt  upon  with  mucli 
fervour,  his  great  achievements  were 
laid  before  us  in  vivid  colors;  the 
cherry  tree  incident  was  made  much 
of,  the  sin  of  falsehood  enlarged 
upon  in  scathing  terms;  we  were 
reminded  over  and  over  again  that 
the  lips  of  George  Washington  nev- 
er uttered  a  lie,  a  fact  upon  which 
a  sceptical  Scotchman  is  said  to 
have  once  slyly  remarked  that  the 
reason  the  lips  of  George  Washing- 
ton never  uttered  a  lie  was  because 
he  talked  through  his  nose,  which 
was  doubtless  a  pleasant  reference 
to  a  habit  said  to  be  prevalent 
among   Americans. 

One  winter  I  attended  a  select 
school  opened  by  a  clergyman  in  a 
room  in  the  large  brick  residence  of 
Elijah  Buell,  but  it  was  not  very 
successful,  so  with  others  I  returned 
to  the  public  school,  where  I  remain- 
ed for  the  year. 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Cut  off  as  we  were  from  all  com- 
munication with  the  outside  world 
in  the  fifties,  save  by  the  river,  it 
was  natural  that  the  advent  of  a 
steamer  either  up  or  down  should 
be  an  occasion  of  interest  especially 
to  the  younger  portion  of  the  com- 
munity. It  was  a  common  thing 
therefore  for  us  youngsters  to  race 
down  to  the  landing  when  a  steam- 
boat whistle  was  heard  and  watch 
the  boat  come  in;  indeed  much  of 
our  time  when  not  necessarily  oc- 
cupied with  our  duties  was  spent 
along  the  river  bank,  for  the  great 
river  always  had  a  charm  for  us. 
We     became     quite     expert     in      the 


knowledge  of  river  craft,  the  names 
of  all  the  boats  which  regularly 
plied  the  stream  were  familiar  to 
us.  We  could  easily  tell  what  boat 
was  approaching  almost  as  far  as 
we  could  see  it,  either  by  its  gen- 
eral appearance,  the  chuffing  of  its 
engines  or  some  particular  feature 
which  distinguished  it  from  others, 
but  which  would  never  be  noticed 
except  by  the  closest  and  most  ex- 
perienced observer.  It  was  really 
wonderful  how  clever  we  became 
and  how  we  did  astonish  grown  up 
people  by  our  skill;  we  seemed  to 
know  what  boat  it  was  by  the  same 
sort  of  mysterious  observation  as 
that  which  enables  a  seaman  to 
know  a  distant  sail  or  a  hunter  to 
know  the  tribe  of  Indian  warriors 
his  practical  eye  encounters  on  the 
prairies  of  the  west.  There  was  the 
G.  W.  Sparhawk,  the  New  St.  Paul, 
the  Editor,  Audubon,  Shenandoah, 
and  many  .others  the  names  of  which 
I    cannot   now   recall. 

The  pilot  was  the  great  man  of 
the  river,  he  was  the  autocrat  of  his 
day;  every  one  on  the  river  and 
ashore  acknowledged  the  supremacy 
of  the  river  pilot,  he  was  a  much 
greater  man  than  the  captain  and 
could  command  a  much  larger  sal- 
ary, and  indeed  he  was  worth  it.  An 
exact  knowledge  of  the  river  from 
St.  Louis  to  St.  Paul,  in  those  days 
before  the  government  had  come  to 
the  aid  of  the  pilot  with  its  charts 
and  lights,  was  an  accomplishment 
to  be  proud  of.  It  was  not  surpris- 
ing therefore,  that  to  be  a  river  pilot 
was,  in  the  mind  of  every  boy  that 
lived  along  the  river,  the  most  desir- 
able thing  in  the  v/orld,  far  better 
than  to  be  president  of  the  United 
States.  So  we  all  laid  out  to  be 
pilots,  but  alas;  not  one  of  us  ever 
reached     that     proud    distinction,    it 


.'{l; 


TIIK   SI.MIMJ<:    \AFK  OF  A  COMMONER 


was  too  far  Ijcyoiid  us  till  we  luul 
outgrown  the  desire.  There  was 
plenty  of  good  hunting  and  tishtng, 
the  river  abounded  in  cat,  buffalo, 
pickerel,  niuscalonge  and  various 
other  tribes  of  its  finny  denizens, 
while  the  sloughs  north  of  town 
furnished  an  abundance  of  wild 
game;  there  were  plenty  of  ducks 
and  geese  and  quite  a  good  sprink- 
ling of  wild  turkeys.  My  chum,  .Joe 
Conway  and  I  frequently  made  trips 
Ml)  the  river  about  Turkey  Slough 
and  the  islands  between  Lyons  and 
Sabula,  whei'e,  in  the  spring  when 
the  June  rise  had  uprooted  the 
trees  along  the  banks  and  sent  them 
down  stream,  and  logs  had  been 
loosened  from  rafts  and  set  afloat, 
we  were  able  to  bulla  small  raits 
of  these  uprooted  trees  and  floating 
logs  which  no  one  owned  or  claimed, 
and  so  realized  enough  from  the 
sale  of  them  to  pay  us  quite  well. 
We  usually  provisioned  our  boat  for 
a  weel<  or  more  and  with  o)ir  hunt- 
ing and  fishing  outfit  and  our  dun- 
nage, proudly  sailed  away  to  the 
hunting  and  fishing  grounds  where 
we  stayed  till  our  raft  was  complet- 
ed and  we  had  filled  a  barrel  or  two 
Avith  fish  which  we  speared  at  night 
when  it  was  still  and  the  water  was 
clear  enough  to  see  objects  on  the 
bottom.  These  fish  we  thoroughly 
cleaned  and  salted  ready  for  market. 
We  got  our  ducks  and  geese  in  the 
early  morning  and  about  dusk  in 
the  evening.  We,  of  course  did  our 
own  cooking,  which  was  quite  a 
simple  affair.  Ready  sale  was  al- 
ways found  for  both  fish  and  game, 
while  our  rafts  were  easily  disposed 
of. 

Speaking  of  successful  hunting 
and  fishing  it  may  not  be  out  of 
iilace  at  this  point  to  mention  a 
noble   catch    of   a   huge    channel    cat, 


1  made  one  evening  al)Oul  sundown. 
1  had  baited  a  large  sized  hook  with 
a  good  chunk  of  liver  and  fastened 
it  to  a  strong  line,  expecting  if  1 
caught  anything  at  all  where  1  in- 
tended to  fish  it  would  be  a  big 
one.  So  1  leisurely  rowed  out  to  the 
current  and  let  the  boat  drift  down 
stream  with  one  end  of  the  line  se- 
curely tied  to  the  stern  and  the  oth- 
er with  a  heayy  sinker  attached 
dragging  behind.  1  did  not  have  to 
wait  long  for  a  bite;  after  about  ten 
minutes  my  line  suddenly  began 
whizzing  through  th(>  water  at  a 
tremendous  rate  and  1  knew  at  once 
there  was  going  to  be  something 
doing.  Fortunately  the  line  was 
both  long  and  strong  so  there  was 
no  fear  of  its  breaking  or  unwinding 
to  its  full  extent.  I  patiently  played 
my  catch;  whenever  the  line  slack- 
ened I  rapidly  pulled  it  in  hand  ov- 
er hand,  and  as  promptly  paid  it  oui 
again  when  it  began  to  tighten.  It 
dees  not  tal<e  very  long  to  tire  a 
tish  out  witli  this  sort  of  play,  he 
soon  becomes  exhausted  and  is 
easily  landed.  After  some  elfoit  1 
succeeded  in  getting  my  cat  into 
the  boat  and  pulled  for  shore.  When 
I  reached  home  and  put  him  on  the 
scales,  he  weighed  exactly  twenty- 
seven  pounds.  He  was  much  the 
largest  fish  I  ever  caught,  and  1  was 
quite  proud   of  my  success. 

The  manner  of  getting  logs  down 
the  river  at  that  time  was  very  dif- 
ferent from  the  way  it  has  been 
done  in  recent  years.  Then  the 
crews  were  gotten  together  at  St. 
Louis  or  at  various  points  along  the 
river  and  taken  north  to  the  piner- 
ies on  steamboats  to  such  points  on 
the  Wisconsin  and  St.  Croix  rivers, 
as  were  convenient  for  collecting 
together  logs,  which  had  been  gotten 
out   th(>  i)revious   winter  by  crews  of 


THE   SIMPLE   [JFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


;53 


loggers  ill  the  forests  of  Wisconsin 
and  Minnesota,  and  hauled  down 
to  the  river  banks  ready  for  rafting 
as  soon  as  the  spring  opened  and 
the  streams  were  clear  of  ice.  It 
required  large  numbers  of  men  to 
handle  some  of  those  raft.-,  whicli 
were  of  enormous  size;  great  skill 
was  also  required  to  keep  them  in 
the  channel  where  they  could  float 
down  stream  in  safety,  avoiding  ob- 
structions and  keeping  clear  of  the 
sand  bars,  safely  passing  steamers 
which  were  their  inveterate  foes, 
but  which  were  in  mortal  terror  of 
them,  running  the  rapids  unharmed, 
which  was  no  easy  thing  to  do,  and 
holding  together  when  the  winds 
blew  hard  and  the  waves  ran  high. 
But  all  that  has  been  changed,  now 
a  small  rafter  managed  by  three  or 
four  men  is  quite  sufficient  to  handl  ^ 
the  large  rafts  which  are  speedily 
and  safely  tawed  down  the  river. 
The  pineries  of  the  north,  however, 
will  soon  be  exhausted.  At  the  rate 
they  have  been  depleted  by  the  enor- 
inous  drafts  which  have  been  made 
upon  them,  it  will  not  be  long  be- 
fore this  great  industry  will  have  be- 
come a  thing  of  the  past,  unless 
what  little  remains  is  carefully  pro- 
tected by  the  government. 

Occasionally  the  town  was  visited 
by  celebrites  of  more  or  less  prom- 
inence, who  seldom  failed  to  receive 
such  patronage  as  tiiey  deserved 
from  those  who  had  the  price  for 
tickets.  Among  those  traveling  no- 
torities,  I  n.ay  mention  the  Lombard 
Brothers,  who  were  great  singers, 
Mrs.  Scott  Sitdons,  Artemas  Ward, 
who  with  the  possible  exception  of 
Josh  Billings,  was  the  greatest  of 
American  humorists,  and  many  oth- 
ers. I  remember  A.  Ward  quite 
well,  happening  to  overhear  a  con- 
versation    between     the    lona     haiied 


oddity  and  two  or  ihree  of  our  ci- 
tizens on  the  relative  attractiveness 
of  men  and  women,  in  which  Mr. 
Ward  unblushingly  declared  that  he 
was  never  impressed  with  womanly 
beauty  but  that  he  was  always 
charmed  with  a  handsome  man.  I 
looked  upon  him  for.  a  moment  with 
an  eye  in  which  all  the  astonish- 
ment and  abhorrence  of  my  boyish 
nature  was  concentrated,  and  then 
with  a  lofty  air,  I  turned  on  my  heel 
and  walked  away,  to  the  immense 
amusement  of  the  great  humorist 
and    his    friends. 

In  the  memory  of  the  oldest  in- 
reached.  About  2:00  p.  m.,  I  start- 
what  is  now  the  middle  w^est,  has 
never  been  surpassed  for  severity 
and  suffering.  For  many  weeks  it 
was  intensely  cold  and  the  snow- 
was  quite  four  fe^t  deep  on  the 
level;  in  many  places  the  highest 
fences  were  entirely  out  of  sight 
for  days.  The  Rev.  Landon  Taylor, 
a  prominent  pioneer  preacher  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church,  who 
had  been  sent  as  a  missionary  to 
the  settlers  along  the  Missouri  riv- 
er in  the  fall  of  185  6,  says  of  the 
situation  in  western  Iowa:  "On 
the  first  d;).y  of  December,  18.') 6, 
v.'inter  commenced  with  snow  from 
the  northwest,  increasing  in  sever- 
ity until  the  afternoon  of  the  sec- 
ond day,  when  the  climax  was 
reached.  About  2:i/u  p.  m.,  I  start- 
ed from  my  office  for  dinner  about 
ten  rods  distant.  When  about  one 
rod  on  my  way  I  became  lost,  not 
being  able  to  see  my  hand  before 
me,  and  the  storm  cutting  my 
breath,  I  halted  and  queried; 
strange  if  I  should  perish  within 
a  few  feet  of  my  door.  But  I  thought 
as  I  am  facing  the  storm  northwest, 
if  I  return  ?outheast  I  will  strike 
my     office,     and     this      happy      idea 


34 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


brcugut  me  into  safe  quarievs.  The 
storm  continued  for  three  days  and 
snow  reached  the  depth  of  four  feet 
on  the  level,  accompanied  with  a 
crust  so  hard  as  to  bear  up  a  man. 
This  was  truly  a  snow  blockade,  for 
no  one  couid  travel  for  weeks  and 
the  people  being  short  of  provisions, 
many  had  to  subsist  on  hominy  and 
a  few  potatoes.  Such  was  the  depth 
of  snow  during  this  win-'er  that  in 
some  instances  it  was  dangerous  to 
venture  far  from  home,  in  view  of 
the  hungry  wolves.  A  negro  had 
been  out  a  little  distance  from  home 
chopping,  when  on  his  return  he 
was  driven  by  a  pack  of  wolves  into 
a  fence  corner,  where  his  remains 
and  his  axe  were  found,  with  six 
dead  wolves   lying  by  his  side." 

While  the  houses  of  the  poorer 
people  were  mere  shanties  of  boards 
and  very  cold,  there  was  always 
plenty  of  fire  wood  so  they  could  be 
kept  comparatively  comfortable,  ex- 
cept in  the  extremest  weather,  when 
it  v/as  impossible  to  keep  warm 
even  by  piling  the  old  double-deck- 
er cook  stoves  which  also  served  as 
heaters  full  of  wood.  We  were  liv- 
ing at  that  lime  in  one  of  those 
shanties  which  my  father  had  put 
up,  in  the  hazel  brush  at  the  out- 
skirts of  the  town.  The  severe  cold 
and  deep  snows  had  driven  what 
game  had  not  already  perished,  in- 
to the  towns  for  food  and  shelter. 
One  morning  just  as  my  mother  was 
opening  the  back  door  to  throw 
out  a  pan  of  dish  water,  a  flock  of 
quails  which  had  been  feeding  near 
the  house  flew  up  to  escape  threat- 
ened danger.  -Unfortunately  just  at 
the  moment  when  this  occurred  a 
young  hunter  who  had  been  on  the 
trail  of  the  birds  for  some  time, 
raised  his  piece  in  a  direct  line  for 
qmails    and    the    door    and    fired    at 


the  moment  when  it  opened,  not 
seeing  my  mother  in  his  eagerness 
to  shoot  the  birds  and  taking  no 
thought  of  the  danger  of  firing  in 
the  direction  of  the  house.  It  was 
fortunate  the  gun  was  loaded  with 
nothing  heavier  tiian  quail  shot,  for 
if  it  had  been,  mother  would  surely 
have  been  killed,  as  she  received  the 
entire  charge  in  her  face,  neck  and 
breast.  It  was  a  long  time  before 
she  fully  recovered  from  the  shock, 
which,  as  may  well  be  imagined,  was 
very  severe;  but  we  were  all  thank- 
ful she  escaped   with   her   life. 

At  that  time  there  were  no  rail- 
roads in  the  state  running  west 
from  the  Mississippi;  all  produce 
was  hauled  to  the  river  towns  by 
wagon,  which  wf.s  a  s;ow,  tiresome, 
expensive  way  of  getting  it  to  mar- 
ket; it  also  entailed  m.uch  suffering 
during  the  winter  months  for  be  it 
remembered  that  there  were  no  arc- 
tics or  fur-lined  shoes,  nor  were 
there  any  fur  overcoats  as  at  the 
present  time;  so  that  farmers  who 
were  obliged  to  haul  their  wheat, 
pork  and  other  products  to  market, 
some  of  them  fifty  or  sixty  miles, 
suffered  intensely  from  frozen  hands 
pnd  feet,  and  not  infrequently  from 
lack  of  nourishing  food,  being  sev- 
eral days  on  the  road,  often  hind- 
ered by  blizzards  and  the  deep 
snows,  through  which  they  were 
compelled  to  shovel  a  iias-age  for 
their  teams.  Then,  too,  when  they 
had  overcome  all  obstacles  and 
finally  reached  the  river,  prices  were 
so  low  that  it  took  almost  all  the 
load  brought  to  pay  their  expenses. 
As  an  illustration  of  the  difficulties 
connected  with  the  transportation 
problem,  the  farmers  after  killing 
and  dressing  their  hogs  at  home  and 
hauling  them  to  Lyons,  were  oblig- 
ed   to    cut    off    tlie    heads    and    feet, 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


35 


which  Uiey  sold  or  gave  away  to 
anyone  who  would  take  them  rather 
tlian  pay  the  expense  of  their  Irans- 
]io'tation  by  boat  to  marlvct  down 
the  river.  This  the  steamboat  peo- 
ple were  gl?d  to  have  them  do  as 
they  were  cften  unable  to  meet  the 
demands  upon  their  carrying  capa- 
city Also  in  r.ddition  to  these  trou- 
bles there  was  another  very  serious 
embarrassment;  the  country  was 
without  a  stable  currency,  there  was 
not  a  sufficiency  of  coin  to  do  its 
business  and  its  paper  money  was 
decidedly  unsafe.  Much  of  it  here 
in  the  west  was  what  was  character- 
ized as  wild  cat,  red  dog,  shin  plas- 
ters, etc.,  which  might  be  good  to- 
day and  wcrthless  tomorrow.  It 
became  necessary  for  business  men 
to  have  at  hand  a  bank  note  de- 
tectcr,  which  was  of  some  value  if 
the  issue  was  the  very  latest,  for 
it  gave  the  value  of  the  paper 
money  at  the  time  of  issue,  which 
would  be  worth  anywhere  from  ten 
to  ninety  cents  on  the  dollai'.  It 
also  gave  great  opportunities  for 
dishonesty  on  the  part  of  the  buyer 
if  he  was  disposed  to  take  undue  ad- 
vantage of  the  ignorance  of  the 
farmer  and  unload  on  him  depre- 
ciated currency,  the  true  value  of 
which  the  farmer  would  be  ignor- 
ant. It  was  therefore  very  dis- 
couraging to  men  who  had  hauled 
their  grain  fifty  miles  to  market  anri 
sold  it  at  night,  to  find  the  money 
which  was  supposed  to  be  good 
when  they  were  paid  either  utterly 
worthless  or  not  worth  more  than 
forty  or  fifty  cents  on  the  dollar 
next  morning.  Many  of  the  mer- 
chants issued  their  own  paper  in  the 
form  of  a  due-bill  which  they  after- 
ward redeemed  in  cash  or  paid  in 
goods.  In  this  way  the  money  prob- 
lem   was   partly   solved    for   the   time 


being   at    least,    for   the    residents   of 
the  towns. 

The  fearful  tragedy  at  Spirit 
Lake,  which  so  horrified  the  state 
and  concerning  which  so  many  dif- 
ferent accounts  have  been  given,  oc- 
curred the  following  spring.  As  it 
is  a  part  of  the  history  of  our  state 
in  which  every  lowan  is  interested, 
I  take  the  liberty  to  quote  from  one 
who  was  on  the  ground  and  may 
therefore  be  reckoned  as  an  author- 
ity whose  words  may  be  received 
without  question.  The  Rev.  Mr. 
Taylor  says:  "The  Indians  having 
camped  near  Smithland  for  the  pur- 
pose of  hunting  and  fishing,  oc- 
casionally some  few  would  pass 
through  the  town.  At  this  time, 
three  or  four  called  in  at  a  store, 
with  a  few  ears  of  corn  gathered 
up  in  a  field  thrown  out  to  the  com- 
mons. A  few  of  the  whites  or  rath- 
er roughs  asked  them  where  they 
had  obtained  their  corn,  to  which 
the  Indians  frankly  replied.  No 
more  was  said,  but  the  whites  went 
out  into  a  taicket,  cut  each  one  a 
hickory,  then  returned,  fell  upon 
the  Indians  and  chased  them  into 
their  camp.  The  males,  most  of 
them,  being  absent  on  a  hunt,  (he 
whites  gathered  up  all  their  guns 
remaining  and  brought  them  to 
Smithfield,  having  made  them  prom- 
ise before  they  left,  that  on  the 
following  day  they  would  go  down 
and  shake  hands  with  the  Omahas, 
another  tribe,  which  the  Indians 
knew  would  be  certain  death.  When 
the  hunters  returned  and  found 
what  had  been  done,  they  started 
in  the  night  for  the  Cherokee,  and 
commenced  their  depredations. 
Some  forty  or  fifty  of  the  whites 
were  killed  and  several  of  the  In- 
dians. When  I  tell  you  that  liquor 
was    the    moving    cause,    my    readers 


3(i 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


will  not  need  any  further  explana- 
tion. I  have  read  several  incorrect 
statements  in  relation  to  the  origin 
of  this  massacre,  but  this  is  the  first 
so  far  as  I  know,  that  gives  the 
true  history.  If  those  roughs  had 
behaved  themselves,  the  Indians 
would  have  retired  and  this  sad  af- 
fair would  never  have  taken  place." 

During  the  summer  months  when 
net  at  school,  I  was  employed  by  a 
Mr.  Pease,  a  carriage  painter,  with 
whom  I  learned  something  of  the 
business,  though  I  never  became  an 
expert  at  it.  Mr.  Pease  was  a  fine  . 
mechanic  who  understood  his  busi- 
ness thoroughly  and  had  I  remained 
with  him  it  is  likely  I  would  have 
made  a  success  of  it;  as  it  was  I 
learned  only  enough  to  make  me 
.lust  an  ordinary  workman,  which 
after  all,  may  have  been  quite  as 
well,  all  things  considered. 

There  was  a  young  fellow  among 
my  associates,  an  easy  going,  good 
natured,  sentimental  sort  of  a  chap, 
who  was  given  to  imagine  that  all 
the  girls  were  in  love  with  him,  his 
personal  attractions  were  so  great, 
he  really  thought  he  was  irresisti- 
ble. It  must  in  justice  be  said, 
however,  that  his  mania  assumed 
9  mild  form  and  did  no  other  harm 
than  to  make  him  the  subject  of 
much  amusement  among  the  young 
folks  who  seldom  failed  to  enjoy 
themselves  at  his  expense..  He  was 
the  owner  of  a  guitar  and  fondly 
imagined  he  was  something  of  an 
artist  with  that  instrument,  vain 
thought.  He  never  attempted  any- 
thing when  any  one  was  present  ex- 
cept the  "Spanish  Fandango,"  I  be- 
lieve he  called  it,  and  whenever  he 
wrestled  with  that  he  was  thrown 
quite  as  often  as  he  downed  it.  But 
he  never  became  discouraged,  he 
stuck  to  it  with  a  persistency  worthy 


of  nobler  things.  It  was  his  unfor- 
tunate listeners  who  suffered;  they 
always  became  down  hearted  the 
moment  he  began  to  twang  the 
strings,  and  one  after  another,  it 
seemed  to  be  borne  in  upon  them 
that  they  had  quite  forgotten  some- 
thing down  town  which  must  be 
attended    to   at   once. 

None  of  us,  hov/ever,  had  any- 
thing to  boast  of.  We  seldom  felt 
it  to  be  quite  safe  to  get  gay  at 
one  another's  expense,  for  we  were 
all  about  equally  ambitious  to  shine 
in  the  musical  world,  or  elsewhere. 
AlasI  that  it  should  be  so.  O,  how 
we  did  torture  the  popular  songs 
of  llie  day.  I  have  often  thought 
in  later  years,  how  "Annie  Laurie," 
'  Belle  Brandcn"  and  "  Rosalie,  the 
Prairie  Flower"  must  have  suffered 
had  they  been  conscious  cf  what  we 
were  doing  to  them.  What  a  deep 
sense  of  injury  must  have  pervaded 
their  souls  and  shocked  their  sen- 
sibilities as  we  mercilessly  tortured 
them  in  our  maddening  attempts  to 
make  any  unfortunate,  unhappy  lis- 
tener, who  could  not  make  his  es- 
cape acquainted  with  their  virtues. 
I  am  sure  if  those  unfortunate 
heroines  had  possessed  the  sense  of 
hearing  and  the  powers  of  speech, 
they  would  have  indignantly  pro- 
tested against  our  well  meaning,  but 
misdirected  efforts  to  do  them  hon- 
or. As  it  was  they  could  do  no 
more  than  to  suffer  in  silence  while 
we  tortured  the  night  air  in  their 
praises. 

I  was  now  to  embark  for  the 
first  time  in  a  business  enterprise  on 
my  own  account.  All  my  life,  I 
had  been  quite  well  satisfied  to  work 
for  others,  receiving  such  wages  as 
I  might  be  able  to  earn,  but  seeing 
as  I  thought,  a  good  opening  for 
business    on    an    unpretentious    scale 


THE   SniPLE   EIFE   OF  A  COIVIMONER 


37 


with  a  lair  prospect  of  future 
grcwth,  I  prevailed  on  one  of  my 
friends  to  join  me  in  tlae  ice  cream 
and  lemonade  business.  So  we  pool- 
ed our  ready  money,  wliich  was  very 
little  all  told,  and  with  what  credit 
we  could  get,  bought  what  fixtures 
we  could  neither  rent  nor  borrow, 
and  securing  a  small  room  opened 
our  ice  cream  saloon.  After  a  long 
consultatior.  witi-  eacli  other,  dur- 
ing which  we  thoroughly  discussed 
the  matter,  we  concluded  to  have  a 
big  send-off,  a  sort  of  grand  open- 
ing, at  which  our  friends  were  to 
be  invited  to  drink  lemonade  and 
tat  ice  cream  at  our  expense.  It 
was  a  brilliant  idea,  there  could  be 
no  doubt  about  that,  because  all 
the  young  people  about  town  said 
po.  It  was  a  master  stroke  and 
would  have  been  the  making  of  us 
had  it  not  been  for  just  one  thing, 
we  had  too  many  friends^ — that 
night — mov^  than  we  had  e^-er 
dreamed  of;  more  than  we  ever  had 
before  by  all  odds  and  far  mcT-e  than 
we  ever  had  afterward.  They  came 
singly,  they  came  by  twos,  by  threes, 
by  fours,  they  came  in  groups;  they 
came  early,  they  stayed  late;  they 
were  hungry,  they  were  thirsty. 
Heavens!  how  they  did  eat  that  ice 
cream  and  drink  that  lemonade; 
Why,  they  simply  ate  and  drank 
everything  there  was  in  the  shop 
and  rested  not  till  the  last  saucer 
had  been  emptied  and  the  last  glass 
I'ad  been  drained  to  the  dregs.  And 
there  we  were,  as  helpless  victims 
as  were  ever  attacked  by  a  mob. 
Poor  Jim,  I  will  never  forget  his 
woe-be-gone  looks,  the  utter  misery 
upon  his  face  when  the  last  guest 
had  taken  his  departure  and  not  a 
cent  in  the  drawer.  What  was  to 
he  done?  Nothing.  We  had  ex- 
hausted our  resources  the  first  night. 


everything  was  cleaned  out,  we  had 
no  future.  Nothing  to  go  on  with, 
no  money,  no  credit,  even  our  fix- 
tures had  been  pledged  for  what  we 
had  had  to  borrow  to  start  with. 
It  was  bad,  no  mistake  about  that. 
\v^e  were  in  much  the  same  situation 
as  that  of  the  base  ball  player  who 
declared  that  he  had  only  one  in- 
nings to  five  outs--he  was  out  at 
the  elbows,  out  at  the  toes,  out  of 
money  and  out  of  clothes,  out  of 
credit  and  in  debt.  Now  what  was 
to  be  done,  we  were  unable  to  bor- 
row any  more  money.  Somehow, 
those  who  had  any  to  loan,  which 
were  not  many,  did  not  appear  to 
have  unbounded  confidence  in  our 
business  ability,  while  "our  friends" 
who  had  so  promptly  availed  them- 
selves of  our  hospitality  kindly  vol- 
unteered the  opinion  that  we  were 
"two  fools  who  ought  TO  hav-^  known 
better  than  to  give  away  everything 
we  had,  we  deserved  to  fail."  It 
may  have  been  very  ungrateful  of 
us,  but  candor  compels  me  to  say 
that  these  tenderly  expressed  senti- 
ments did  not  tend  to  soothe  our 
lacerated  feelings;  they  were  not 
like  balmy  days  in  June  to  us,  and 
in  all  the  years  that  have  followed 
the  remembrance  of  them  has  not 
made  for  the  development  of  gener- 
ous impulses  m  the  breasts  of  two 
deluded  mortals.  So  we  went  into 
bankruptcy,  closed  up  our  shop,  and 
each  went  his  way  to  earn  by  hard 
knocks  liis  share  of  what  we  were 
owing  and  get  on  his  feet  again.  It 
was  a  good  lesson  in  some  ways  and 
though  dearly  bought  was  worth  all 
it  cost  us;  if  we  could  have  secured 
a  little  help  we  might  have  pulled 
through  and  gone  on  with  the  busi- 
ness, but  that  was  not  to  be  had 
and  perhaps,  after  all,  it  was  just 
as    well   in    the   long   run. 


3y 


THE   SliMPLE   LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


CHAPTER  VH. 
In  the  early  autumn  of  18") 9,  four 
young  men,  Frank  Lothrop,  Freder- 
ick Blakeley,  William  Blakeley  and 
the  writer  concluded  to  go  south 
and  spend  the  winter,  where,  we 
•were  told,  steady  employment  was 
to  be  had  for  mechanics  at  much 
better  wages  than  were  paid  in  the 
north.  Instead  of  going  by  steam- 
boat, which  was  too  expensive  for 
us,  we  concluded  to  purchase  a  sail 
boat  which  we  had  heard  could  be 
bought  at  a  reasonable  figure.  The 
boat  would  carry  probably  a  ton 
and  a  half,  and  we  were  told  she 
could  easily  be  disposed  of  at  Mem- 
phis, where  we  intended  to  stop  and 
spend  the  winter,  if  we  had  no 
further  need  of  her.  So  after  look- 
ing her  over  we  closed  the  bargain 
and  immediately  ordered  her  on  the 
dry  docks,  where  she  was  carefully 
overhauled,  caulked  and  given  a 
new  coat  of  paint;  we  christened 
her  the  "Morning  Star."  A  canvas 
covering  after  the  style  of  the  prai- 
rie schooners  so  common  in  those 
days  was  fitted  on  our  boat  to  fur- 
nish protection  from  the  sun  and 
rain,  and  from  the  dews  at  night; 
it  was  so  arranged  as  to  enable  us 
to  put  it  on  or  off  at  our  pleasure 
without  much  trouble.  The  mast 
was  shipped  with  mainsail  and  jib, 
and  everything  made  ready  for  our 
voyage  of  five  hundred  miles  toward 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  After  we  had 
been  properly  provisioned,  cooking 
utensils  provided,  shot  guns  and 
fishing  tackle  carried  aboard,  we 
bid  adieu  to  such  of  our  friends  as 
had  strolled  down  to  the  landing  to 
see  us  off  unloosed  the  hawsei-, 
hauled  it  aboard,  ran  up  the  flag 
to  the  mast  head  and  then  amid 
the  cheers  of  our  friends  backed 
cut  into  the  stream,  turned  the  prow 


lo  the  south,  hoisted  the  sails  and 
were  off,  singing  as  we  went:  — 
"A  life  on  the  ocean  wave, 
A  home  on  the  rolling  deep." 
Inasmuch  as  there  was  no  crying 
need  for  our  immediate  presence  in 
the  south,  we  determined  to  take 
plenty  of  time  to  the  trip  and  get 
all  the  enjoyment  we  could  out  of 
it.  The  first  day  out  we  were  favor- 
ed with  a  fair  wind,  enabling  us  to 
make  a  splendid  run,  passing  Ca- 
manche  and  Le  Claire  with  flying 
colors,  raising  our  spirits  and  fill- 
ing us  with  exhilerating  sensations 
which    were  very   pleasant  indeed. 

The  river  itself,  with  its  ever 
changing  shores  presented  to  cur 
view  a  panorama  of  beauty  which 
was  a  constant  delight,  a  series  of 
pictures  painted  by  the  skilled  hand 
of  the  Divine  master  artist  one  after 
pnother  revealed  themselves  to  our 
vision,  challenging  the  admiration 
of  us  all,  appealing  with  a  wondrous 
power  to  that  sense  of  beauty  whicli 
God  has  implanted  in  all  His  in- 
telligent creatures;  wide  stretches 
of  table  land  reaching  from  the 
river  side  inland,  'many  a  mile,  suc- 
cessively followed  by  gentle  sloping 
vistas  winding  backward  among  the 
hills,  disclosing  the  marvellous  beau- 
ty of  the  scenery  as  far  as  the  eye 
could  reach.  Then  in  their  turn  fol- 
lowed by  lofty,  abrupt,  rocky  bluffs, 
first  on  one  side  of  the  river,  then 
on  the  other,  rising  perpendicularly 
to  a  great  height,  giving  a  sense  of 
strength  and  power,  a  massive 
granduer  worthy  of  the  Great  Archi- 
tect of  the  universe,  who  spake,  and 
it  was  done.  It  was  autumn  and 
the  leaves  of  the  trees  were  of  many 
colors,  green,  red,  yellow  and  pur- 
ple, gloriously  tinted  by  the  breath 
of  the  wind,  the  lips  of  the  sun,  the 
tears     of     the     clouds,     the     gentle 


THE  simflp:  life  of  a  commoner 


39 


toufhes  of  baby  frosi  and  the  con- 
tinuous fondling  of  Father  Time. 
Noble  old  "Father  of  Waters,"  the 
days  of  the  years  of  thy  life  have 
been  neither  few  nor  evil,  rather 
lav.e  they  stretched  away  through 
all  the  generations  of  the  past;  aye, 
in  the  long  ago,  before  even  the 
moeassined  feet  of  the  red  man  had 
pressed  the  golden  sands  upon  thy 
shores,  or  his  canoe  had  lightly 
ridden  upon  thy  gentle  billows,  thy 
laughing  waters  from  the  north, 
r,radually  swelling  into  a  mighty 
tcrrent,  then  sobering,  deepe  'ng 
and  widening  on  its  way  till  it 
broadens  and  deepens  into  a  solemn 
flow,  majestically  gliding  on  its 
course  to  the  sea. 

Then  there  was  the  handiwork  of 
man  joined  to  the  work  of  God, 
touching  the  splendors  of  nature 
with  human  life  and  energy  and 
clothing  every  mile  of  the  way  with 
a  delightful  harmony,  which  was  as 
ennobling  to  the  soul  as  it  was  en- 
chanting to  the  eye.  Every  now 
and  then  as  we  sailed  on  our  cour-^e 
charming  little  villages  could  be 
seen  nestling  at  the  feet  of  Liie 
bluffs  as  though  they  were  seeking 
shelter  from  the  storms  which  swept 
over  the  open  prairie  behind  them, 
or  sitting  at  the  feet  of  the  great 
rocks  which  towered  above  then  as 
a  man  would  sit  at  the  feet  of  God. 
Interspersed  with  these  villages, 
larger  and  more  pretentious  places 
would  occasionally  break  upon  our 
view.  They  were  to  be  the  cities  of 
the  future  for  even  then  foundations 
were  being  laid  which,  later  on  be- 
came evidences  of  the  forethought 
of  their  projectors.  Large  side- 
wheel  steamers  and  smaller  stern- 
wheelers  on  their  way  from  Saint 
Louis  to  Saint  Paul,  loaded  with 
merchandise  for  the  rapidly  increas- 


ing   populations    of     the     northwest 
and    crowded    with    passengers,    most 
of  them  emigrants  or  home  seekers, 
who  were  soon,  to  become  the  lords 
of  the   land;    or  returning   from   St. 
Paul    loaded    down    to     the     water's 
edge  with  the  products  of  the  newer 
country,   but   carrying   fewer   passen- 
gers,   were    frequently    met    with    on 
the    upper    river,    that    is,    north    of 
St.  Louis.     Great  rafts  which  always 
claimed,  and  never  failed  to  receive 
the  right  of  way — the  terror  of  the 
boats,    big    or    little,    might    be    seen 
almost  any  day,  lazily  floating  down 
stream    like    some    monstrous    turtle, 
asking   odds    of   no   one   and    seldom 
showing   the    least    consideration    for 
any   craft  that  might   by   chance  get 
in    its   way.      It   was   only   when    tho 
raftsmen    and    the     steamboat     men 
happened  to  tie  up  for  the  night  at 
the    same    town,    which     they     were 
sometimes    obliged    to    do    when    the 
river   was   at   a   low   stage   of   water 
and  the   night   was  dark,   that  there 
was   any  actual   conflict.      But   when 
they  did  thus  come  together,  It  sure 
was   a    case    of    Greek    meet    Greek, 
for  after  taking  on  a  cargo  of  "forty 
rod"  as  it  was  called,  and  both  sides 
had  thus  been  placed  on  a  war  foot- 
ing,  hostilities  began,   and   generally 
they  were  continued  all  through  the 
night    with    necessary    intermissions 
to    allow    each    side    to    replenish    its 
ammunition    at    the    low    down    dog- 
geries   with    which    the    river    towns 
abounded.        The     battle     raged     in 
spite  of  all  the  authorities  could  do 
to   stop    it,    the   drunken   combatants 
would  blaze  away  at  each  other  with 
pistols,    hammer   one     another     with 
their    fists,    with    clubs    or    anything 
they    might    be    able     to     lay     their 
hands   on,   rendering   the   night   hid- 
eous with   their  brawling  blasphemy 
and  their  howls  of  pain  as  they  were 


THE   SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMIMONER 


pummeled  by  their  adversaries. 
There  was  not  much  choice  between 
them,  one  side  was  as  bad  as  the 
other,  so  no  one  cared  which  had 
the  best  of  it.  There  was  ahvays  a 
deadly  feud  between  them  in  the  old 
days.  They  thrived  on  broils  and 
contentions.  Bickerings  and  strifes 
were  their  meat  and  drink,  the  river 
and  its  shores  were  their  battle 
fields  and  in  many  instances  their 
graves.  These  affrays  became  so  no- 
torious as  to  become  at  last  utterly 
unendurable.  'ihe  young  men  of 
the  towns  were  dragged  into  them 
to  some  extent;  low  doggeries  and 
baudy-houses  lined  the  river  front 
for  an  entire  block,  rendering  it  un- 
safe for  decent  citizens  in  that  neigh- 
borhood after  dark,  for  they  were 
always  in  danger  of  being  robbed 
or  even   murdered. 

Finally  it  was  determined  to 
.break  up  the  foul  dens  and  rid  the 
town  of  their  presence.  But  as  the 
police  force  of  the  town  which  con- 
sisted of  a  single  watchman  was  not 
strong  enough  for  so  great  an  un- 
dertaking the  problem  was  a  com- 
plicated one.  It  was  solved  at  last, 
however,  by  the  members  of  the  fire 
company.  Resolute  No.  1,  who  vol- 
unteered to  do  the  work.  It  was  a 
serious  undertaking,  but  the  boys 
were  not  deterred  by  the  danger, 
they  were  in  dead  earnest.  So  one 
dark  night  near  eleven  o'clock, 
when  the  orgies  were  at  their 
height,  the  company  with  bells  on 
the  hose  cart  muffled  and  every  pre- 
caution taken  to  guard  against 
noises  of  any  kind  which  would  be 
likely  to  alarm  the  revellers,  swiftly 
and  silently  made  their  way  around 
by  side  streets  to  the  river  front  of 
the  block  which  was  to  be  made  the 
object  of  attack.  As  soon  as  the 
hose    had    been    reeled    off    the    cart 


and  borne  up  the  river  bank  as  near 
the  first  point  of  attack  as  was 
deemed  necessary,  word  was  given 
and  the  stream  began  pouring 
through  an  open  window  into  a  hall 
on  the  first  floor  where  a  dance  was 
in  full  swing.  Pandemonium  at 
once  broke  loose,  the  dancers  were 
terror  stricken,  they  shouted  and 
cursed  and  screamed  and  ran  in 
every  direction,  only  to  be  met  by 
a  stream  of  water  wherever  they 
went.  It  did  not  take  long  to  clean 
out  that  building  nor  the  others 
which  were  attacked  with  equal  vig- 
or, every  one  of  them  was  soon 
done  for  and  the  town  was  happily 
rid  of  the  loathsome  pests.  It  came 
very  near  being  a  much  more  serious 
matter  for  me  than  I  had  anticipat- 
ed, hov/ever,  for  it  was  my  duty  t^ 
direct  the  play  of  the  stream  and 
as  I  was  doing  so  an  old  fellow  who 
kept  a  vile  place  next  door  to  the 
dance  house  crept  out  and  mingl- 
ing with  the  crowd,  wormed  his  way 
unobserved  to  the  spot  where  I  was 
standing.  His  hand  clutched  a  half 
brick  with  which  he  doubtless 
meant  to  kill  me;  he  was  standing 
within  ten  feet  of  me  and  had  rais- 
ed his  hand  to  hurl  the  brick,  when 
fortunately  for  me,  he  was  seen  by 
the  pipe-men,  who  instantly  turned 
the  stream  upon  him,  striking  him 
fairly  in  the  chest  and  whirling  him 
head  over  heels  in  a  complete  som- 
ersault. Had  he  not  been  seen  in 
time  my  career  would  most  likely 
have  come  to  an  end  right  then  and 
there.  The  following  morning  which 
was  Sunday,  the  citizens  assembled 
on  the  battle  field,  where  addresses 
were  made  congratulating  the  fire 
company  on  the  good  work  they  had 
done. 

Many   are   the   stories   told    of   life 
on  the  river  in  the  early  days,  some 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


41 


of  which  are  unquestionably  true, 
others  are  legends  of  the  olden 
times.  The  late  Doctor  R.  C.  Am- 
bler of  Lansing,  Iowa,  made  me 
acquainted  with  the  legend  of  O-ne- 
o-ta,  a  beautiful  Indian  princess  of 
the  lowas,  and  her  lover  Wau-kon- 
a-ket,  a  young  chief  of  the  Winne- 
bagos,  a  tribe  which  at  the  time  of 
this  writing  has  its  lodges  near  the 
Minnesota  line,  not  far  from  the 
village  of  New  Albin,  Iowa,  where 
most  of  their  trading  is  done.  .Just 
south  of  the  village  near  the  place 
where  the  Oneota  river  empties  into 
the  Mississippi,  there  is  a  rocky 
bluff,  known  as  Blackhawk's  Point, 
so  named  after  a  battle  which  it  is 
said  was  fought  there  between  the 
whites  and  that  redoubtable  war- 
rior, during  the  Blackhawk  war,  the 
truth  of  which  seems  to  be  corrobor- 
ated by  the  fact  that  the  skeletons 
of  men,  Indian  war  implements  and 
other  evidences  of  strife  have  been 
exhumed  in  the  vicinity  at  various 
times,  in  sufficient  numbers  to  war- 
rant the  belief  that  it  was  the  scene 
of  a  battle  at  some  period,  which, 
with  the  traditions  associated  with 
the  locality  would  seem  to  leave  lit- 
tle room   for  doubt. 

Wau-kon-a-ket  and  0-ne-o-ta  were 
in  love  with  each  other,  but  sad  to 
relate  the  course  of  their  love  ran 
far  from  smooth.  The  father  of  the 
princess,  old  Decorah,  swore  by  all 
the  traditions  of  his  fathers  and  by 
the  great  Manitou  that  a  prince  of 
the  Winnebagos  should  never  wed 
his  daughter.  But  Wau-kon-a-ket 
was  a  brave  young  chieftain,  de- 
scended from  a  race  of  warriors, 
resolute  of  purpose,  resourceful  in 
plans,  determined  and  tireless  in 
their  execution.  So  it  was  whisper- 
ed about  before  many  moons  had 
come  and  gone,   that   in  spite  of  the 


watchfulness  of  the  old  chief  De- 
corah, stolen  interviews  were  held 
between  the  young  lovers,  which  be- 
came so  frequent  that  they  could 
no  longer  be  concealed  from  the 
irate  father,  who  determined  to 
take  the  young  chief's  life.  Hap- 
pily  he  was  overheard  by  a  friend 
of  the  young  lovers,  planning  with 
a  rejected  suitor  of  his  own  tribe, 
for  the  destruction  of  Wau-kon-a- 
ket.  His  purpose  was  at  once  re- 
vealed to  the  young  people,  wiho,  of 
course  immediately  took  measures 
to  prevent  it.  The  young  chief  in 
accordance  with  the  custom  of  his 
people  was  in  the  habit  of  showing 
his  attachment  to  the  young  prin- 
cess by  frequent  presents  of  deer, 
turkeys  or  the  skins  of  wild  animals 
which  he  had  killed  in  the  chase. 
To  obtain  these  trophies  which  were 
to  be  had  In  greater  quantities  to- 
ward the  rising  sun,  it  was  the  hunt- 
er's habit  in  the  winter,  to  cross 
the  river  on  the  ice  in  the  morning 
and  return  in  the  evening  laden 
with  his  game.  This  was  well  known 
to  Decorah,  who  had  plotted  with 
two  of  his  warriors  to  cut  the  ice  in 
the  path  of  the  hunter,  so  that  when 
he  returned  at  dusk,  he  would  fail 
to  observe  the  trap  which  had  been 
set  for  him,  be  plunged  into  the 
waters  and  carried  away  under  the 
ice.  It  was  a  bold  scheme  and 
would  have  succeeded  had  it  not 
been  for  the  love  and  courage  of  the 
faithful  O-ne-o-ta,  on  the  night 
v.'hen  the  vengeful  scheme  was  to  be 
carried  out,  who,  having  previously 
by  accident  learned  the  details  of 
the  plot,  silently  stole  out  of  her 
wickiup  and  climbing  to  the  top  of 
Blackhawk's  Point,  concealed  her- 
self on  its  rocky  summit  till  the 
moment  should  arrive  when  her  lov- 
er   would    make    his    appearance    on 


THE   SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


the  other  side.  As  he  approached 
the  fatal  spot  where  the  ice  had 
been  cut  a  bright  light  suddenly 
flashed  from  the  summit  of  Black- 
hawk's  Point  and  O-ne-o-ta  stood 
revealed  to  his  vision,  a  nymph  of 
the  woods  like  some  Houri  of  Para- 
dise, her  brilliant  eyes  aglow  with 
the  fine  excitement  of  the  moment, 
her  beautiful  face  illumined  with 
enchantment,  her  coal  black  hair 
streaming  in  the  wind,  her  glorious 
figure  stretched  to  its  utmost  as  she 
swayed  backward  and  forward, 
gently  waving  in  her  shapely  hands 
a  lighted  torch,  which  warned  her 
lover  of  the  danger  to  which  he  was 
exposed,  enabling  him  to  pass  in 
safety  around  the  treacherous  place, 
and  in  a  few  moments  lay  the  fruits 
of  the  chase  at  the  feet  of  his  be- 
loved O-ne-o-ta.  The  old  chief, 
Decorah,  who  was  really  a  magnifi- 
cent specimen  of  the  red  men, 
dearly  loved  his  beautiful  daughter, 
and  with  a  father's  pride  in  her, 
desired  only  to  shield  her  from  un- 
worthy suitors.  After  the  escape 
of  Wau-kon-a-ket  from  death  on  the 
river,  which  he,  not  knowing  the 
part  O-ne-o-ta  had  played  in  it,  as- 
cribed to  the  Great  Spirit,  withdrew 
his  opposition  and  in  due  time  the 
two  tribes,  the  lowas  and  the  Win- 
rebagos  were  united  by  the  mar- 
riage of  O-ne-o-ta  and  Wau-kon-a- 
ket,  whereby  an  old  feud  of  long 
standing  was  removed  and  happy 
relations  restored  between  the  two 
tribes. 

Speaking  of  this  legend  to  my 
friend,  the  late  John  B.  Kaye  of  Cal- 
mar,  Iowa,  I  asked  him  to  make  it 
the  subject  of  a  poem,  which,  after 
a  little  modest  hesitancy,  he  con- 
sented to  do.  Mr.  Kaye,  who  was 
the  author  of  Songs  of  Lake  Geneva, 
Vashti    and    other    books    of    poetry, 


vv-as  a  gentleman  of  talent  who  is 
best  appreciated  in  the  middle  west 
where  he  is  well  known.  Mr.  Kaye 
begins  his  poem,  which  contains 
thirty-one  stanzas,  with  a  descrip- 
tion of  t'he  heroine  which  also  marks 
the  style  of  the  poem: 

"Dark,    dreamy    eyes,    skin    like    the 
autumn    leaves 
When    gold   and     crimson     mellow 
into   one; 
Hair  like  the  midnight   gathered  in- 
to sheaves; 
A  glance  as  bright  and  mellow  as 
the    sun; 
A    smile    which    many    a    tall    brave 
had  undone; 
Sweet     O-ne-o-ta,     still     her    spell 
she  weaves." 

I  would  be  delighted  to  publish 
the  entire  poem,  which  I  am  sure 
would  be  greatly  enjoyed  by  my 
readers,  and  am  only  prevented 
from  doing  so  by  the  limits  of  this 
work. 

About  noon  of  the  second  day  out 
from  Lyons  we  reached  Davenport, 
where  we  spent  several  hours  look- 
ing over  the  town  and  forming  some 
pleasant  acquaintances,  concluding 
our  stay  there  we  weighed  anchor 
late  in  the  afternoon  and  pointing 
sou-sou-west  by  sou-west,  by  west, 
by  sou-west,  with  a  fair  wind  we 
laid  our  course  for  Muscatine;  night 
overtook  us,  however,  before  we 
made  that  port,  so  we  ran  into  a 
harbor  where  we  were  sheltered 
frpm  the  wind  and  dropping  anchor, 
remained  there  throtigh  the  night. 
Weighing  anchor  next  morning  af- 
ter an  early  breakfast,  we  continued 
on  our  way  in  good  spirits.  The 
wind  having  freshened  during  the 
night,  was  blowing  great  guns  by 
noon,  but  the  Morning  Star  steadily 
held   on   her  course:    with   furled   jib 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


43 


and  mainsail  partly  reefed  she  sped 
before  the  gale;  down  into  the 
trough  of  the  sea  she  suddenly 
plunges,  threatening  to  engulf  us 
beneath  the  angry  waves,  then  ris- 
ing again,  tossing  and  dancing  on 
the  crest  of  the  wild  billows  she 
dashes  the  spray  in  our  faces,  laugh- 
ing at  us  like  some  elfish  sprite, 
she  leaps  from  wave  to  wave  as 
though  she  would  spring  from  under 
us  and  be  free.  But  the  Morning 
Star  is  a  staunch  little  craft,  always 
obedient  to  the  helm,  full  of  cour- 
r.ge  and  confidence  in  her  abilities 
to  metst  every  emergency.  Manned 
by  a  crew  that  knows  how  to  handle 
ker,  she  flies  past  Muscatine  on  the 
wings  of  the  wind,  showing  a  clean 
pair  of  heels  to  every  onlooker; 
speeding  on  her  way  she  gallantly 
outrides  the  storm  and  we  anchor 
in  safety  at  the  close  of  another 
day.  That  night  the  wind  went 
down  and  next  morning  the  sun 
rose  bright  and  clear,  a  cloudless 
sky  overhead  and  the  quiet  waters 
of  the  river  beneath  us.  With  all 
the  serenity  of  a  glorious  October 
morning  about  us  we  watched  the 
flight  of  large  numbers  of  ducks  and 
geese  making  their  annual  passage 
from  the  virgin  lakes  of  the  north 
to  the  rice  fields  of  the  south.  The 
smoke  could  occasionally  be  seen 
lazily  rising  from  the  chimneys  of 
isolated  log  cabins  or  stone  dwell- 
ings on  either  shore,  while  now  and 
then  a  fisherman's  house  boat  fas- 
tened to  the  overhanging  branch  of 
a  tree,  partly  concealed  by  the  clus- 
tering foliage  about  it,  might  be 
seen  by  a  close  observer  as  it  lay 
hard  by  the  shore  of  some  one  of 
the  numerous  islands  in  the  great 
river. 

We  had   nothing  to   do  but   to  en- 
joy   the    day,    which    we    did    to    the 


fullest  extent;  without  using  either 
sail  or  oar  we  quietly  floated  down 
stream  with  the  current.  As  every- 
thing seemed  to  be  favorable  for  a 
night  on  the  water,  we  resolved  not 
to  tie  up  as  we  had  been  doing,  but 
to  run  all  night,  so,  after  a  hearty 
supper  and  a  run  on  shore  for  an 
hour,  we  fastened  a  red  lantern  to 
the  masthead  and  pulled  into  the 
stream.  In  due  time  a  watch  was 
set,  which  happened  to  be  this  old 
salt,  whose  duty  it  was  to  promen- 
ade the  for-ard  deck  and  keep  a 
sharp  lookout  till  the  next  watch 
came  on,  which  was  at  eight  bells, 
or  four  o'clock  in  the  morning.  The 
others  turned  in  and  were  soon 
snoring  at  a  rate  to  awaken  the 
echoes  along  the  shores  and  startle 
the  wild  game  from  their  uneasy 
slumbers.  All  went  well  till  about 
three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  when 
Fomething  happened  for  which  no 
provision  had  been  made  on  the 
ship's  log-book.  The  poet  of  the 
crew  tells  of  it  under  the  inspira- 
tion of  the  moment  in  the  following 
inspiring  words,  which  will  no  doubt 
live  as  long  as  the  annals  of  the 
river  in  its  earlier  records  shall  be 
written   and   sung:  — 

One  sailor  man  awatch  on  deck. 
His   shipmates    fast    asleep — 

Wist  not  the  danger  they  were  in, 
A  sailing  on  the  deep. 

Sail,    ho!    the   lookout   loudly   bawls; 
Wake    up,    ye    lubbers,     don't     ye 
hear 
Yon    steamboat,    coming    round     the 
bend. 
My  faith,  she's  drawing  near. 

Up!  up!  my  hearties,  man  the  yards. 
Or    'neath    these    waves    we    sink; 

For  if  that  monster  bumps  us  one. 
She'll  spill  us  in  the  drink. 

Shiver  my  timbers!  here  she  comes, 
Hard    on    our    leeward    side; 


44 


THE  SIMPLE   LIFE  OF  A  CO.MMOXER 


Sheer    off!    sheer    off!     you    chuffing 
beast, 
The   channel's   deep   and    wide. 

Stand    by,    stand    by,    brave    yankee 
tars. 
For  by  old  Neptune's  hairy  lip. 
By     yon     foul     fiend     we're     nearly 
swamped, 
Stand  by,  to  pump  the  ship. 

And  indeed  it  was  necessary  for 
every  one  of  us  to  move  lively,  for 
the  steamer,  which  was  one  of  the 
largest  of  the  upper  river  boats  had 
passed  .so  close  to  us  that  the  waves 
from  the  wheels  nearly  filled  our 
boat  before  we  could  get  out  of  her 
way  and  we  were  in  actual  danger 
of  going  to  the  bottom  of  the  river. 
As  it  was,  however,  we  promptly 
got  the  buckets  at  work  and  while 
two  of  us  bailed  the  boat,  the  other 
two  slowly  rowed  the  water  logged 
craft  to  shore. 

We  were  given  no  choice  as  to 
what  part  of  the  channel  we  prefer- 
red. The  larger  and  stronger  craft 
always  crowded  the  smaller  and 
weaker  vessels  out  of  their  way; 
they  invariably  claimed  possession 
of  the  channel.  The  right  of  way 
was  theirs  and  few  of  the  weaker 
boats  were  disposed  to  question  the 
right  because  they  knew  they  would 
only  be  swamped  if  they  did,  so 
they  cleared  when  they  saw  the  big 
fellows  coming.  Possession  on  the 
river  has  always  been  nine  points 
of  the  law,  even  as  it  is  said  to  be 
elsewhere,  but  self  possession  is  the 
tenth,  and  self  possession  stood  us 
well    in    hand   that   night. 

On  shore  we  spent  the  rest  of  the 
night  and  nearly  all  next  day  re- 
pairing damages.  Our  provisions 
were  thoroughly  soaked  and  a  good 
portion  of  them  were  utterly  spoil- 
ed. We  were  drenched  to  the  skin, 
so  that  we  were  obliged  to  strip  our- 


selves of  everything  we  had  on. 
This  we  did  and  after  building  a 
fire,  hung  them  out  to  dry,  while 
four  fresh  water  sailors  in  undress 
attire,  ran  about  and  tumbled  and 
rolled  in  the  sand  and  shouted  and 
sang  and  whistled  and  did  every 
other  idiotic  thing  that  four  young 
fellows,  under  such  circumstances, 
might  be  expected  to  do.  Meanwhile 
the  clothes  were  drying  around  the 
fire,  what  few  provisions  had  not 
been  ruined  were  gotten  into  shai)e 
for  breakfast,  the  coffee  began  to 
simmer  in  the  pot,  the  bacon  was 
soon  frying  in  the  pan,  the  sweet 
potatoes  boiling  in  the  kettle,  and  in 
due  time  breakfast  being  over  with 
and  morning  breaking,  we  were 
early  on  our  way  again,  wiser,  if 
not  more  accomplished  seamen.  At 
the  next  town  our  larder  was  re- 
plenished and  once  more  we  all  felt 
equal  to  almost  anything  that  might 
happen    to    us. 

Frequent  stops  were  made  as  we 
proceeded  on  our  way  down  the  riv- 
er. At  Hannibal,  w-e  spent  a  Sun- 
day; at  Nauvoo  we  went  ashore  to 
see  the  town  and  view  the  ruins  of 
the  old  Mormon  temple  of  which  we 
had  heard  much  said.  At  Caron- 
delet,  five  miles  below  St.  Louis,  we 
spent  a  week,  mostly  in  the  city, 
however,  wliich  gave  us  a  much 
needed  rest  and  fine  recreation.  In- 
deed there  was  hardly  a  town  on 
either  side  of  the  river  that  we  fail- 
ed to  look  over,  spending  from  an 
hour  to  a  week,  enjoying  its  attrac- 
tions and  incidentally  picking  up 
quite  a  store  of  information  of  more 
or  less  value  to  us. 

There  was  excellent  fishing  all 
the  w^ay  down  and  frequently  good 
hunting,  all  of  which  enabled  us  to 
keep  our  larder  well  stocked  with 
fish   and    game.      And  so   it   came   to 


THE   SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


45 


pass  that  after  a  most  enjoyable 
trip  of  four  weeks,  we  at  last  reach- 
ed the  end  of  our  voyage  and  drop- 
ped anchor  in  the  quiet  waters  just 
above   the   city   of   Memphis. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Frank  Lothrop  did  not  remain  at 
Memphis.  As  soon  as  the  boat  was 
sold,  Vv'hich  was  done  at  some  sacri- 
fice, he  said  good  bye  to  us  and  left 
for  Rome,  Georgia,  where  I  was  af- 
terward told,  he  entered  the  confed- 
erate army  and  was  killed  at  the 
first  battle  of  Bull  Run.  I  think  he 
must  have  been  forced  into  the  rebel 
army  for  he  was  a  loyal  citizen  who 
had  come  to  lov/a  from  Massachu- 
setts, where  he  was  born,  some 
years  before.  Poor  fellow,  he  was 
as  line  spirited,  kind  hearted  a  man 
as  one  could  wish  to  know,  and  v/as 
only  one  of  the  many  who  were 
compelled  to  do  battle  against  their 
country  in  violation  of  their  convic- 
tions of  right  and   duty. 

The  rest  of  us  remained  at  Mem- 
phis, where  we  soon  found  work  at 
our  trades.  The  hotel  where  I  board- 
ed was  kept  by  a  Mr.  Oldridge,  a 
former  resident  of  Dubuque,  so  it 
seemed  a  little  mere  like  home  to 
me.  When  I  applied  to  him  for 
board  he  said  that  though  he  was 
pressed  for  room  he  would  take  me 
in  if  I  would  bunk  with  another 
young  man  whose  room  mate  had 
just  left,  provided  it  was  agreeable 
to  him.  This  arrangement  was 
satisfactory  to  both  of  us,  especially 
as  it  had  to  be  that  or  nothing.  Af- 
ter we  had  retired  for  the  night  I 
asked  my  room  mate  whose  name  I 
had  learned  through  Mr.  Oldridge, 
what  part  of  England  he  came  from, 
for  I  had  early  discovered  by  his 
conversation  that  he,  like  myself  was 
an  Englishman,   by  birth.      When  he 


told  me  the  county  and  town  where 
he  was  born  and  where  he  had  lived 
all  his  life  before  coming  to  Ameri- 
ca, I  was  interested  at  once  and  be- 
gan asking  him  questions  about  cer- 
tain persons  I  had  known  in  that 
same  town.  After  naming  several 
of  the  most  prominent  persons  in 
the  place,  including  Mr.  Russell,  my 
old  school  master,  I  finally  asked 
him  if  he  knew  Kit  Williamson. 
"Why,"  said  he,  "he  is  my  brother," 
a  fact  which  I  had  already  discover- 
ed, but  had  kept  to  myself.  Then 
he  wanted  to  know  who  in  the 
world  I  was.  I  told  him  I  had  lived 
the  greater  part  of  my  life  in  the 
old  country  on  the  Hyde  Farm; 
that  I  had  attended  Mr.  Russell's 
school  at  Beaconsfield,  when  he  was 
a  student  there,  that  we  had  spun 
tops,  played  marbles  and  hunted  for 
bird's  eggs  together;  that  we  had 
wrestled  and  quarrelled  with  each 
other  to  our  mutual  delight;  that 
my  name  was  Harry  Green,  and  that 
I  was  mighty  glad  to  see  him  and 
find  in  my  room  mate  none  other 
than  my  old  school  mate,  Sam  Wil- 
liamson of  Beaconsfield.  We  were 
not  allowed  to  enjoy  each  others' 
society  very  long,  however,  for  Mr. 
Williamson  after  a  few  days  left 
Memphis  for  Cleveland,  Ohio,  where 
he  was  lost  to  me.  I  have  never 
heard  of  him  from  that  time  to  this. 
My  sojourn  at  Memphis  that  win- 
ter was  not  all  I  had  been  led  to 
believe  it  might  be.  In  some  re- 
spects it  was  quite  pleasant,  but  in 
other  and  more  important  things  it 
was  a  grievous  dissappointment 
Young  as  I  was,  I  was  interested  in 
the  social  life  of  the  South,  which  I 
found  to  be  altogether  different 
from  what  I  had  been  accustomed  to 
in  the  North,  where  no  caste  lines 
were    visible.      In    Iowa,    all     homes 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


were  open  to  me;  lu  Tennessee  they 
were  closed  against  me.  I  did  not 
then  understand  why  it  was.  I  had 
heard  a  great  deal  said  about 
"southern  hospitality;"  that  winter 
I  discovered  that  so  far  as  I  w^as 
personally  concerned,  there  was 
more  hospitality  in  the  North  than 
there  was  in  the  South.  Later  on 
I  came  to  understand  more  clearly 
the  animus  of  the  southern  attitude 
toward  northern  strangers,  and  I 
felt  better  as  the  reasons  for  it  be- 
came  mere   intelligible  to   me. 

To  a  clear  uiderstanding  of  ths 
situation  in  the  South  at  thr.t  uivie, 
it  must  be  boi-nf-  in  mind  that  llii.-. 
was  the  winter  of  18.5  9,  when  John 
Brown  of  Ossawatomie  made  his 
celebrated  raid  into  Virginia.  It  is 
perhaps  needless  to  say  that  every 
city  in  the  south  was  profoandly 
stirred  by  the  old  man's  moviirjient 
against  what  they  called  "  The  Di- 
vine Institution."  It  did  not  occur 
to  me  at  the  time,  but  in  viev/  of 
what  attorward  came  to  pass,  th^^re 
is  no  doubt  in  my  mind  that  the 
citizens  of  Memphis  firmly  believed 
that  we  northern  boys  were  p^.rt  of 
an  extensive  influx  of  abolitionists, 
who  were  making  their  way  into 
every  part  of  the  South,  intending, 
when  a  favorable  opportunity  pre- 
sented itself,  to  strike  a  blow  at 
slavery.  They  seemed  to  have  had 
the  impression  that  there  was  to  be 
a  concerted  movement  all  through 
the  southern  states,  in  which  .Tohn 
Brown  was  a  conspicuous  factor;  so 
we  were  looked  upon  with  suspicion. 
I  think  we  were  closely  watched, 
our  every  movement  was  shadowed 
at  night,  at  least  that  was  the  im- 
pression among  us  at  the  time  and 
it  made  us  very  careful  what  we 
said  and  did.  My  letters  from  the 
North   were  always  opened  and  read 


before  I  was  permitted  to  receive 
them.  Of  course  I  strenuously  ob- 
jected to  what  I  regarded  as  an  un- 
warranted liberty,  Indeed  as  an  out- 
rage. I  protested  against  it  to  the 
postmaster,  but  my  protest  was  not 
regarded,  it  did  no  good.  He  told 
me  there  was  a  doctor,  H.  Green, 
in  the  city,  who  claimed  the  letters. 

"■Well,"  I  said,  "he  ought  to 
know  by  this  time  that  those  letters 
belong  to  me,  he  has  been  reading 
enough  of  them  already  to  have 
found  that  out,  besides,  the  post 
mark  ought  to  be  sufficient."  Then 
I  added  another  "H"  to  my  name, 
which  I  must  admit  compensated  me 
in  some  measure  for  the  loss  of  so 
many  "aitches"  the  first  year  or  two 
after  I  came  to  America. 

Rather  queer,  is  it  not,  that  Broth- 
er Jonathan,  who  persistently 
takes  such  unwarrantable  liberties 
with  the  final  "g"  and  the  letter  "r," 
should  make  merry  over  the  infirm- 
ity of  John  Bull  anent  the  much 
abused  "h,"  but  such  is  human  nat- 
ure, we  are  all  slow  to  see  ourselves 
as  others  see  us,  the  mote  and  the 
beam  play  a  large  part  in  the  af- 
fairs of  men.  One  evening  during 
my  second  year  at  Lyons,  while  play- 
ing with  some  of  my  companions,  my 
arm  was  accidently  driven  against 
a  fence  post  and  injured,  so  as  to 
cause  me  to  c-'y  out  with  the  pain 
of  it;  whereupon  one  of  my  com- 
panions I^afe  Sloan  wanted  to 
know  "What's  the  matter  with 
you?"  "I've  'urt  my  helbow,"  I 
said.  "Aw,"  he  yelped,  "that's 
nothin';  I  thought  somethin'  hard 
had  hit  ye  the  way  you  was  a  yellin' 
and  takin'  on  over  it." 

There  is  a  story  told  of  the  late 
Senators  Hoar  of  IMassachusetts  and 
Blackburn  of  Kentucky,  which  ser- 
ves  to   illustrate   the   local   or  rather 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


sectional  peculiarities  of  speech  in 
some  portions  of  the  United  States. 
It  is  well  known  that  Kentuckians 
liave  little  use  for  the  letter  "r"  as 
a  terminal,  while,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  people  of  Massachusetts 
are  prodigal  in  its  use.  A  Massa- 
<husetts  man  will  unblushingly  as- 
sure you  that  the  battleship  "In- 
dianar"  steamed  into  the  harbor  at 
•'Havanar,  Cubar,"  in  plain  sight  of 
the  "Alamedar  de  Paular."  One  of 
Mr.  Blackburn's  constituents  who 
was  visiting  in  Washington  was  anx- 
ious to  see  what  .Judge  Hoar,  of 
whom  he  had  heard  a  great  deal, 
looked  like.  He  knew  that  the  two 
senators  were  warm  personal  friends, 
so  he  asked  Mr.  Blackburn  one  day 
at  the  Capital,  if  Senator  Hoar  was 
in  the  room.  "No,  suh,  Mr.  Black- 
l)urn  replied,  "Senatoh  Ho  is  not  on 
the  flo,  I  saw  him  go  out  at  that 
do,   at  half  past  fo." 

To  resume  my  narrative,  after 
attaching  the  additional  "H,"  I  be- 
came H.  H.  Green,  and  have  been 
so  called  ever  since.  But  my  let- 
ters were  opened  by  mistake  by  Dr. 
H.  Green,  just  the  same  in  spite  of 
my  most  vigorous  protests,  an  indig- 
nity I  was  powerless  to  prevent, 
which  however  went  far  to  convince 
me  that  I  was  not  wanted  in  Mem- 
phis at  any  rate.  This  conviction 
was  strengthened  by  a  real  misfor- 
tune which  was  far  more  than  a 
mere  affront,  however  unpleasant 
that  might  be.  I  was  thrown  out  of 
employment,  my  boss  summarily  dis- 
charged me  with  the  bald  statement 
that  my  services  would  not  be  need- 
ed any  longer.  This  was  to  me  a 
serious  matter,  the  cost  of  living 
was  unusually  high  that  winter  and 
it  had  taken  all  I  could  earn  to  pay 
my  board  and  other  necessary  ex- 
penses,     so     that      I      was      literally 


stranded  on  what  was  to  me  a  for- 
eign and  hostile  shore.  The  rea- 
sons for  my  discharge  whatever 
they  may  have  been  were  sufficient 
to  prevent  me  from  obtaining  work 
at  my  trade  with  any  other  em- 
ployer. That  left  me  in  a  very 
awkward  position.  I  was  indebted 
to  Mr.  Oldridge  a  small  amount  for 
board,  which  troubled  me  not  a  lit- 
tle. I  was  in  the  woods  and  was 
unable  to  see  my  way  out.  After 
carefully  considering  the  matter  I 
went  to  Mr.  Oldridge  and  frankly 
explained  the  situation  to  him  and 
finished  by  saying,  "Now,  Mr.  Old- 
ridge, I  cannot  leave  Memphis  till 
spring,  and  if  you  can  give  me  any- 
thing to  do  about  the  hotel,  I  will 
thankfully  undertake  it  and  do  my 
best  to  earn  enough  to  pay  what  I 
am  owing  you  and  also  enough  to 
pay  my  way  up  the  river  again." 
"Why,"  he  said,  after  a  moment's 
thought.  "There  is  nothing  to  do 
about  the  hotel  except  the  ordinary 
work,  washing  dishes,  making  beds, 
waiting  on  the  table  and  caring  for 
the  rooms;  if  you  want  to  do  that 
I  will  take  you  on."  "All  right, 
I  can  do  that  and  will  be  glad  to  do 
it."  So  I  went  to  work,  earning 
enough  to  pay  Mr.  Oldridge  what 
I  was  owing  him,  and  also  saved  up 
enough  to  pay  my  passage  up  the 
river  in  the  spring. 

I  saw  but  little  of  the  Blakeley 
boys  during  the  winter  as  they  were 
in  another  part  of  the  city,  nor  do 
I  remember  just  when  they  returned 
to  the  North.  William,  the  young- 
er, afterward  enlisted  in  the  2  6th 
Iowa  Infantry  and  was  killed  at  the 
battle    of   Arkansas    Post. 

In  the  spring  I  bade  good  bye  to 
Mr.  Oldridge,  who  had  proven  such 
a  good  friend  to  me  in  trouble,  and 
taking   passage   on    a   steamer,    made 


48 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


my  way  back  again  to  Iowa,  soon  to 
take  part  in  tlie  stirring  events 
which  immediately  preceeded  the 
great  civil  war.  Indeed  my  depart- 
ure from  Memphis  was  not  taken 
any  too  soon,  for  already  ominous 
clouds  were  beginning  to  appear  on 
the  political  horizon,  which  were 
larger  than  a  man's  hand  and  which 
were  destined  soon  to  deluge  the 
land  in  fratricidal  strife.  It  was 
not  till  twenty  years  after  my  win- 
ter in  Memphis  that  an  opportunity 
was  given  me  to  square  accounts 
with  some  of  the  much  mistaken 
people   of   that  city. 

Near  seven  o'clock  Sunday  even- 
ing, June  3rd,  1860,  a  party  of  four 
young  people,  of  whom  I  was  one, 
were  leisurely  making  our  way  to 
church  when  we  were  suddenly 
startled  by  the  appearance  of  a 
horseman,  who  came  riding  by  at 
the  top  of  his  speed  and  shouting  as 
he  passed,  "Camanche  is  blown 
down." 

Immediately  my  brother  William 
drove  up  with  his  horse  and  light 
wagon  on  his  way  to  the  storm 
stricken  town,  eight  miles  distant. 
Making  our  apologies  to  the  girls 
whom  we  left  to  proceed  to  church 
alone,  we  boys  jumped  into  the  wa- 
gon and  when  we  reached  Camanche 
such  a  scene  of  utter  ruin  lay  be- 
fore us,  as  I  hope  no  one  who  may 
happen  to  read  these  words  will  ever 
be  called  upon  to  witness.  The 
town,  unfortunately  lay  in  the  di- 
rect track  of  the  tornado,  which 
had  arisen  somewhere  about  Hardin 
county  and  sweeping  eastward, 
gathered  in  volume  and  power  as  it 
tore  along,  ravaging  the  entire 
country  through  which  it  passed, 
carrying  desolation  and  death  in  its 
course.  Trees  were  uprooted  and 
cast    prone   upon   the   ground,   fences 


and  telegraph  lines  were  leveled, 
houses,  barns  and  structures  of  ev- 
ery sort  were  destroyed;  men  and 
women,  horses,  cattle,  almost  every 
living  thing  in  the  course  of  the 
storm  king  was  killed  or  woundea. 
It  was  a  time  of  great  sorrow,  the 
like  of  which  had  never  been  known 
in  Iowa  before.  Had  the  popula- 
tion of  the  state  been  as  large  as  it 
was  twenty  years  later  when  Grin- 
nell  was  smitten,  the  destruction 
would  have  been  much  greater. 
Upon  reaching  Camanche  we  im- 
mediately set  to  work  joining  those 
already  on  the  ground,  clearing  away 
the  debris,  uncovering  dead  bodies 
which  we  laid  side  by  side  on  the 
floor  of  a  hotel  which  had  been  left 
standing.  Men,  women  and  chil- 
dren, bruised  and  mangled,  a  pitiful 
sight,  heart-rending  in  the  extreme. 
The  wounded  were  tenderly  cared 
for  by  loving  hands,  everything  was 
done  for  them  that  was  possible  un- 
der the  circumstances.  All  night 
long  and  the  next  day  the  good 
work  went  forward  until  every 
dwelling  had  been  thoroughly 
searched  and  all  the  dead  and  in- 
jured had  been  found  and  cared  for. 
The  home  of  Mr.  W.  H.  Bennett, 
five  miles  east  of  DeWitt,  was  an  old 
fashioned  log  house  to  which  was 
attached  a  frame  lean-to.  When 
they  saw  the  storm  approaching,  the 
family,  with  the  exception  of  Mrs. 
Bennett,  who  was  in  DeWitt  at  the 
time,  hastened  into  the  lean-to  for 
shelter,  having  no  conception  of  the 
destructive  force  of  the  storm;  that 
part  of  the  building  however,  was 
utterly  demolished  and  the  family 
buried  under  the  ruins.  Mr.  Ben- 
nett, who  was  uninjured,  soon  suc- 
ceeded in  extricating  himself  from 
the  debris  and  in  liberating  his 
children,    with    the    exception    of   the 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


49 


eldest  daughter,  who  could  not  at 
once  be  found.  She  finally  made 
them  know  where  she  was,  however, 
by  working  her  fingers  up  through 
the  shingles  of  the  roof  under  which 
she  was  buried,  when  she  was 
promptly  released.  Two  of  the  girls, 
Mary  and  Martha  were  slightly  in- 
jured, happily  no  one  seriously.  I 
did  not  know  till  long  afterward 
that  at  the  time  I  was  riding  down 
to  Camanche  that  Sunday  evening,  a 
young  person  who  was  to  become 
dearer  to  me  than  all  others  was 
lying  under  the  ruins  of  that  lean-to 
on  the  Wapsie  Bottoms. 

Numerous  interesting  stories  are 
told  concerning  the  strange  freaks 
of  the  great  storm,  some  of  which 
though  doubtless  true  are  of  such  a 
whimsical  nature  as  to  place  them 
almost  beyond  the  bounds  of  belief, 
and  were  it  not  that  they  were 
vouched  for  by  persons  who  were 
either  participants  in  or  observers  of 
the  things  they  describe  and  are 
entirely  trustworthy,  one  would  be 
inclined  to  relegate  what  is  related 
to  the  realms  of  fiction. 

The  hired  man  on  the  farm  of 
Mr.  Bennett  happened  to  be  the  hero 
of  one  of  these  queer  freaks.  He 
was  in  the  barnyard  milking  and 
had  filled  his  pail  about  two-thirds 
full,  when  he  was  astonished  to  see 
the  cows  suddenly  drop  to  the 
ground,  their  noses  pointed  to  the 
southwest.  Almost  instantly  the 
barn  was  demolished  and  he  was 
lifted  up  and  carried  through  the 
air  nearly  a  tiuarter  of  a  mile,  then 
gently  set  down  on  his  feet  badly 
frightened,  but  entirely  uninjured. 
Whereupon  he  nonchalantly  made 
his  way  back  to  the  house,  carrying 
in  his  hands  the  pail  of  milk  of 
which    not    a    drop,    as    far    as    could 


be    seen,    had    been    .=!i)illod     on     his 
aerial  flight. 

The  tornado  is  caused  by  the 
concurrent  action  of  two  or  more 
currents  of  air  coming  in  contact 
with  each  other  and  producing  a 
spiral  column  which  assumes  a  fun- 
nel shape  with  the  flange  uppermost. 
It  whirls  around  with  marvelous 
force,  drawing  to  itself  or  flinging 
from  it  every  moveable  object  with 
which  it  comes  in  contact.  It  sel- 
dom moves  for  any  considerable  dis- 
tance on  an  even  course,  it  generally 
whirls  through  the  air  with  a  rotary 
motion,  now  striking  the  earth,  then 
rebounding  and  flying  upward,  it 
speeds  on  for  a  short  distance,  then 
down  to  the  earth  again.  In  this 
manner  it  pursues  its  course  until 
its  force  is  expended. 

Soon  after  the  tornado  I  made  an 
engagement  with  Mr.  G.  W.  Stum- 
baugh  as  night  watchman  at  his  saw 
mill.  Mr.  Stumbaugh  had  been  un- 
fortunate with  his  property;  he  had 
built  two  mills  previous  to  the  one 
I  was  to  look  after,  both  of  which 
had  been  destroyed  by  fire.  These 
unfortunate  losses  had  seriously 
crippled  him  and  had  given  him 
much  concern  as  to  the  watchman 
for  the  new  mill,  especially  as  he 
believed  both  mills  might  have  been 
saved  with  proper  care  on  the  part 
of  the  watchman.  When  my  name 
was  proposed  for  the  place  there 
was  at  first  some  hesitancy  on  his 
part,  as  there  was  also  on  my  own, 
on  account  of  my  age  and  lack  of 
experience.  These  objections,  how- 
ever, were  finally  overcome  and  so 
after  receiving  instructions  con- 
cerning my  duties  I  went  to  work 
with  a  decided  feeling  that  I  had 
undertaken  a  big  responsibility 
which  would  demand  my  utmost 
care.     My  duties  began  at  six  o'clock 


.JO 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


in  the  evening  when  the  mills  closed 
for  the  day  and  continued  till  seven 
in  the  morning.  I  generally  began 
my  work  by  raking  out  the  fire  from 
the  furnaces,  so  as  to  lower  the 
pressure  of  steam  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible; then  I  cleaned  up  the  saw- 
dust around  the  different  saws  for 
we  had  Muly,  Lath  and  Shingle  as 
well  as  Circular  saws;  after  that 
had  been  attended  to  the  journals 
were  to  be  watered  to  cool  them  off, 
and  then  carefully  oiled. 

At  midnight  my  meal  was  eaten 
without  much  ceremony  and  it  al- 
ways tasted  good,  for  I  was  blessed 
with  a  huge  appetite  and  my  moth- 
er was  a  good  cook  and  seemed  to 
find  great  satisfaction  in  catering  to 
my  likes,  which  she  perfectly  un- 
derstood. It  is  a  great  thing  to  be 
blessed  with  a  good  mother.  The 
hours  usually  dragged  slowly  along, 
making  the  night  seem  much  longer 
than  it  was,  and  always  there  was 
a  strong  tendency  to  drop  asleep, 
especially  toward  morning.  This 
tendency  caused  by  the  drowsy  at- 
mosphere of  the  mill  gave  me  no 
little  concern,  but  it  made  me  all 
the  more  alert  so  it  was  really  a 
thinly  disguised  blessing.  When- 
ever I  felt  it  creeping  over  me  I 
took  a  turn  in  the  yard  outside, 
where  the  cold  air  speedily  awak- 
ened and  refreshed  me.  There  were 
two  or  three  sources  of  danger  to 
the  mill  against  which  I  was  cau- 
tioned to  be  particularly  watchful. 
One  of  them  was  the  fear  of  in- 
cendiary fires;  the  boss  had  all 
along  believed  that  at  least  one  of 
the  fires  before  mentioned  had  been 
caused  by  an  enemy  of  his  out  of 
revenge  for  some  fancied  injury, 
and  he  feared  the  new  mill  might 
be  destroyed  the  same  way.  An- 
other   was    the    fear    that    hot    jour- 


nals might  set  the  sawdust  on  fire 
or  the  floor  near  them.  I  always 
guarded  against  danger  from  this 
source  by  pouring  water  on  the 
journals  and  on  the  floor  near  them 
soon  after  the  men  quit  work  at 
night,  so  there  was  little  to  fear 
from  over  heated  journals  or  from 
the  floor  near  them. 

One  of  my  most  important  duties 
was  to  get  on  a  full  head  of  steam 
in  the  morning  in  time  to  start  up 
the  machinery  as  soon  as  the  engin- 
eer made  his  appearance.  This  1 
had  always  been  careful  to  do  with- 
out any  trouble,  until  one  morning, 
about  five  o'clock,  with  a  good  head 
of  steam  on  and  big  fires  in  the 
furnaces,  I  discovered  to  my  dismay 
that  the  pump  was  out  of  order, 
refusing  to  do  its  work;  no  water 
was  going  into  the  boilers;  an  ex- 
plosion would  soon  follow  unless 
something  was  done  to  prevent  it. 
So  I  threw  open  the  furnace  doors 
and  raked  out  all  the  fire,  leaving 
the  doors  open  to  cool  off  the  inside 
as  soon  as  possible,  then  I  ran  to 
the  whistle  which  was  located  over 
the  boilers  and  began  the  biggest 
and  longest  blow  I  ever  made  in 
my  life,  which  is  saying  a  good  deal. 
There  was  no  let  up  to  it;  it  was 
the  long  roll  of  an  army  in  the 
presence  of  an  enemy.  The  old  gen- 
eral, owner  of  the  mill,  came  tear- 
ing down  from  his  home  on  the  hill 
in  his  shirt  sleeves;  the  engineer 
and  several  of  the  workmen  were 
soon  on  the  ground  and  measures 
were  promptly  taken  to  set  every- 
thing to  rights.  I  was.  commended 
for  my  timely  discovery  of  the  de- 
fective pump,  and  on  the  work  I 
had  done  to  safeguard  the  property. 
Also  on  my  personal  escape  from 
destruction,  for  if  the  boilers  had 
burstPd    while    T    had    been    standing 


THE  SIMPLE   LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


51 


oviT  tlHMH,  there  would  not  have 
1)een  enough  of  me  left  to  hold  a 
wake  over.  My  work  at  the  mill 
was  continued  until  it  closed  down 
for  the  winter,  when  my  attention 
was  turned  to  o'ther  things. 

During  the  month  of  September 
of  that  year  in  company  with  sev- 
eral other  young  men,  I  became  a 
regular  attendant  at  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Sunday  School.  One  Sun- 
day soon  after  the  school  opened,  I 
chanced  to  turn  my  head  toward  the 
door  at  the  moment  a  young  lady 
1  had  never  seen  before,  was  enter- 
ing the  room.  Turning  to  my  near- 
est classmate  I  said:  "Will,  who  is 
that  girl?"  "What  girl?"  he  in- 
(luired.  "Why,  that  one  who  has 
just  come  in."  "O,"  he  replied, 
"her  nam">  is  Bennett,  Mary  Ben- 
nett." "But  who  is  she,  where  does 
she  live?"  I  asked.  "Her  people 
live  in  the  country,  out  near  DeWitt, 
somewhere,  I  believe,  and  she  is 
attending    school    at    the    seminary." 

"Well,  Will,"  I  calmly  said.  "Let 
me  tell  you  something,  if  I  ever  get 
married  that  girl  will  be  my  wife." 

He  turned  toward  me  in  astonish- 
ment and  assuming  a  rather  pitiful 
look,  as  though  he  suspected  I  had 
suddenly  been  attacked  with  a  weak- 
ening of  the  brain  or  some  other 
misfortune  equally  as  bad,  slowly 
said,  as  though  speaking  to  himself: 
"Well,  I  declare,  can  it  be  as  bad 
as  that?"  Then  turning  to  the 
others,  he  continued:  "Say,  boys, 
r.reen  has  just  been  hit  awful  hard, 
he    is    done    for,    sure    as    you    live." 

Explanations  foil  wed,  whereupon 
it  was  agreed  among  them  that  it 
was  all  up  with  me,  and  indeed  they 
were  not  far  out  of  the  way  as  sub- 
sequent events  proved.  T  had  no 
opportunity  to  meet  Miss  Bennett 
for    some    time    after    that,    but    the 


arrow  remained  where  the  little  God 
had  so  discreetly  lodged  it,  and 
when  the  opportunity  did  come  I 
was  prepared  to  make  the  most  of 
it. 

One  Sunday  evening,  soon  after 
her  people  had  moved  to  town,  I 
saw  her  again  at  the  church.  She 
was  a  member  of  the  choir  and  that 
evening  had  left  her  hymn  book  at 
home.  Ais  soon  as  this  was  known 
I  requested  permission  to  get  it  for 
her,  as  a  younger  sister  upon  whom 
she  was  depending  to  bring  it  failed 
to  do  so.  Permission  was  gracious- 
ly granted,  and  the  hymn  book  was 
secured  and  received  with  many 
blushes  of  modesty  on  her  part  and 
much  satisfaction  on  my  own.  That 
incident  led  to  an  acquaintance  upon 
which  my  heart  had  been  set  from 
the  moment  I  saw  her  first  in  the 
Sunday    School. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

The  summer  and  fall  of  1S60 
were  made  memorable  by  the  im- 
portant political  campaign  which 
resulted  in  the  election  of  Abraham 
Lincoln  to  the  presidency  of  the 
United  States.  For  several  years 
preceeding  the  election  of  Mr.  Lin- 
coln the  country  had  been  in  a  con- 
stant ferment.  The  political  pot 
was  kept  boiling  over  the  fires  of 
an  intense  partisanship,  the  like  of 
which  has  never  been  equaled  in 
the   United    States. 

Max  O'Rell,  the  distinguished 
Frenchman,  who  visited  this  coun- 
try at  that  period  declared  that  the 
sole  amusement  of  the  Americans 
was  politics.  He  was  not  far  out 
of  the  way  either,  for  politics  was 
the  very  breath  of  life;  every  man 
was  a  politician.  They  talked  poli- 
tics in  the  morning,  they  thought 
.  politics    through    the    day,    and    they 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


drank  politics  and  fought  politics 
around  the  corner  grocery  at  night. 
The  newspapers  in  those  days  were 
political  papers;  eliminate  politics 
from  them  and  little  would  have 
been  left.  The  preacher  was  sys- 
tematically scolded  by  one  party  be- 
cause he  preached  politics  and  by 
the  other  party  because  he  did  not 
preach   politics. 

Beginning  with  the  campaign  of 
1848,  in  which  General  Zachariah 
Taylor  and  General  Lewis  Cass  were 
pitted  against  each  other  for  the 
presidency,  there  was  never  a  time, 
till  thirteen  years  later  when  the 
great  problems  involved  were  per- 
manently settled  by  the  Civil  War, 
that  the  vehemency  of  partisanship 
was  allowed  to  moderate.  In  1848 
General  Taylor  led  the  Whigs.  He 
was  the  logical  nominee  of  the  iNIexi- 
can  War  party,  and  he  had  for  his 
motto,  "General  Taylor  never  sur- 
renders," .which  I  think,  in  view  of 
his  war  record  was  very  appro- 
priate. His  opponent.  General 
Lewis  Cass,  represented  the  Demo- 
cratic or  Loco  Foco  party  as  it  was 
called.  It  was  in  that  campaign 
that  the  Barn  Burners  seceeded 
from  the  Democratic  party  on  the 
issue  of  extending  the  slave  terri- 
tory in  the  United  States  by  the 
annexation  of  Texas,  thus  forming 
the  Free  Soil  party,  of  which  Mar- 
tin Van  Buren  was  the  candidate 
in  1848,  and  which  wais  destined 
later  on,  with  the  accession  of  the 
Whigs  to  become  the  Republican 
party.  The  term  Barn  Burners  was 
derisively  applied  to  them  because 
of  the  circulation  of  a  story  of  a 
farmer  who,  it  was  said,  burned  his 
barn  to  drive  out  the  rats  who  were 
eating  his  corn. 

In  the  newspapers  of  the  day 
there  was  a   wood   cut   of  a    monkey* 


utilizing  the  paw  of  a  large  but 
recalcitrant  pussy  cat  to  pull  out 
some  chestnuts  from  a  blazing 
hearthstone  fire  which  served  as  an 
illustration  for  the  following  dog- 
gerel : 

"We    Southerners    want    a    Northern 
man. 

Or    slavery    will    expire; 
To  plant   it  now  where  breathes  the 
free, 

And  pull  us  out  the  fire. 

This  Northern  doughface  is  the  man, 

And  when  we  touch  the  wire; 
He  is  the  very  one  to  pull 
Our  chestnuts  out  the  fire." 
Then  tuere  was  a  cartoon  repre- 
senting a  slave  driver  with  a  long 
whip  driving  a  chained  gang  of 
slaves  from  slave  territory  into 
free  territory,  acroes  the  Democratic 
platform,  which  served  as  a  gang 
plank  and  was  supposed  to  repre- 
sent General  Cass'  opinion  of  the 
practical  effects  of  the  Wilmot  Pro- 
viso, which  was  an  amendment  off- 
ered by  David  Wilmot,  representa- 
tive from  Pennsylvania  in  1846,  to 
a  bill  before  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, calling  for  an  appropria- 
tion of  $2,000,000  for  the  purchase 
of  Mexican  territory.  This  amend- 
ment provided  that,  "Neither  slav- 
ery nor  involuntary  servitude  shall 
exist  in  any  part  of  the  said  terri- 
tory." It  was  adopted  by  the  House 
but  rejected  by  the  Senate,  from 
which  it  will  be  seen  that  the  slav- 
ery question  was  preeminently  in  the 
minds  of  the  people.  It  steadily 
grew  in  importance  until  it  became 
the  all-absorbing  question  for  the 
statesmen  of  the  day.  Through  the 
presidency  of  Millard  Fillmore, 
Franklin  Pierce  and  .Tames  Buchan- 
an, it  ceased  not  to  occupy  all 
hearts,  until  finally  it  culminated  in 
the  election  of  Abraham  Lincoln  and 
the    War   of   the   Rebellion. 


THE  SIxMPLE   LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


53 


Among  the  most  prominent  of  the 
conspicuous  actors  of  the  times,  on 
either  side  of  the  great  struggle, 
were,  W.  H.  Seward  of  New  York, 
the  recognized  leader  of  the  Repub- 
lican party;  Charles  Sumner  of 
Mass.,  the  most  able,  active  and 
pronounced  abolitionist  at  Washing- 
ton; Brooks  of  South  Carolina,  who 
with  a  budgeon  dastardly  assaulted 
Sumner  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate, 
leaving  the  mark  of  the  beast  on 
his  person;  Joshua  R.  Giddings, 
Ben  Wade  and  Thomas  Corwin  of 
Ohio,  Horace  Greeley  and  Henry 
Ward  Beecher,  Owen  Lovejoy  of 
Hlinois,  whose  brother  Elijah,  a 
Presbyterian  preacher  was  murder- 
ed by  a  mob  at  Alton,  Hlinois,  be- 
cause he  incautiouisly  expressed 
opinions  adverse  to  slavery;  James 
W.  Grimes  of  Iowa,  James  Buchan- 
an, who  defeated  the  Pathfinder  for 
the  presidency  in  185  6;  John  F. 
Potter  of  Wisconsin,  who  made 
Roger  A.  Pryor  of  Virginia  apolo- 
gize for  words  spoken  in  congress 
at  a  time  when  the  domineering 
spirit  of  the  South  was  becoming 
unendurable,  and  Northern  men 
were  contemptuouisly  called  "Mud- 
sills and  "Black  Republicans"  by 
their    opponents. 

There  had  been  a  great  deal  of 
wrangling  on  the  floor  of  the  House, 
derisive  epithets  had  been  fiercely 
applied  to  each  other,  until  Mr. 
Pryor  suddenly  brought  the  conten- 
lion  to  a  crisis  by  challenging  Mr. 
Potter  to  a  duel,  a  common  resort 
on  the  part  of  the  slave  holders. 
Mr.  Potter,  to  the  astonishment  of 
Mr.  Pryor  and  his  friends,  promptly 
accepted,  and  chose  bowie  knives 
ais  the  weapons,  whereupon  his  ad- 
versary declined  on  the  ground  that 
the  bowie  knife  was  not  a  civilized 
weapon.      Thus    a    large    bubble    was 


effectually  pricked,  to  the  advantage 
of  Northern  men  who  were  greatly 
heartened    by   the    incident. 

There  was  Toombs  of  Georgia,  the 
rebel  implacable,  who  vauntingly 
declared  that  he  would  live  to  call 
the  roll  of  his  slaves  at  the  foot 
of  Bunker  Hill  monument;  Jeffer- 
son Davis  of  Mississippi  and  Alex- 
ander H.  Stephens  of  Georgia,  who 
afterward  became  vice  president  of 
the  Southern  Confederacy,  a  small 
man  physically,  but  a  giant  in  in- 
tellect, the  noblest  as  well  as  the 
ablest  of  all  the  men  of  the  South. 
Then  there  was  Stephen  A.  Doug- 
lass of  Illinois,  and  that  greatest  of 
all  Americans,  Abraham  Lincoln, 
the  memory  of  whose  character  and 
services   will   live   forever. 

In  the  autumn  of  1860,  the  Re- 
publican National  Convention  as- 
sembled at  Chicago  and  held  its 
sessions  in  the  Wigwam,  a  wooden 
structure  erected  for  that  purpose. 
At  that  convention  Mr.  Lincoln  was 
nominated  over  Mr.  Seward,  his 
strongest  competitor,  and  then  and 
there  began  the  most  important  and 
far-reaching  political  campaign  ever 
conducted  in  the  United  States.  The 
people  of  the  west  went  wild  over 
the  nomination;  one  of  their  own 
number  had  been  chosen,  a  man  of 
the  people  whom  everybody  loved, 
and  in  whom  they  had  the  utmost 
confidence.  Organizations  of  "Wide 
Awakes"  were  formed,  consisting 
of  companies  of  young  republicans, 
whose  interest  was  probably  to  some 
extent  enlisted  by  the  semi-military 
character  of  the  organization.  They 
were  provided  with  glazed  caps  a,nd 
capes,  which,  though  inexpensive, 
were  quite  attractive;  the  boys 
armed  with  torches  making  a  fine 
appearance  as  they  went  through 
the    evolutions,    in    which    they    were 


54 


THE   SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


usuallj-  quite  well  instructed.  I 
think  something  of  a  military  spirit 
was  inculcated  in  the  j'outh  of  the 
North  by  the  drills  and  parades  of 
the  Wide  Awakes,  which  came  to 
be  of  service  a  little  later  on.  In 
the  meantime  three  other  candidates 
had  been  nominated,  representing 
the  different  factions  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party.  Mr.  Breckenridge  of 
Kentucky,  .ludge  Douglas  of  Illinois 
and  John  Bell  of  Tennessee.  As 
the  campaign  proceeded,  the  inter- 
est became  so  absorbing  that  the 
people  could  think  or  talk  of  little 
else.  Our  company  of  Wide  Awakes 
under  command  of  a  Mr.  Watson,  a 
clothing  merchant,  was  invited  to 
Chicago  to  attend  a  great  gathering 
of  Republicans  to  be  held  there  and 
I  succeeded  in  obtaining  permission 
to  go  with  them,  though  my  boss 
at  the  mill  was  an  enthusiastic 
Democrat,  and  h.ad  little  use  for 
the  Republican  party,  but  he  was 
a  good  square  man,  always  rea  ly 
to  do  the  right  thing.  So  we  went 
to  Chicago  and  there  we  marched 
and  counter-marched  and  listened 
to  speeches,  that  is,  some  of  us  did, 
and  we  drank  lemonade  and  saw  the 
sights  and  had  a  good  time,  shout- 
ing for  "Honest  Old  Abe,"  hurrah- 
ing for  "The  Rail  Splitter  of  Illi- 
nois," and  getting  thoroughly  worn 
out  with  our  exertions  and  yet  wish- 
ing we  could  have  such  a  campaign 
every    year. 

S-o  it  went,  day  after  day,  night 
after  night,  with  music  and  speeches 
and  shoutings,  till  at  last  the  great 
day  of  election  arrived,  when  the 
American  people  were  to  record 
their  verdict  on  the  problems  of  the 
day  at  the  polls.  The  occasion  was 
one  of  unusual  interest  to  me,  be- 
cause, during  the  preceding  March 
I  had  come  of  age  and  was  entitled 


to  a  vote,  as  becometh  the  American 
citizen.  I  was  proud  to  reach  that 
distinction  and  was  determined  to 
make  the  most  of  it.  To  be  sure 
I  had  never  taken  out  naturaliza- 
tion papers,  because  it  was  not 
necessary,  my  lather  having  done 
so  before  I  became  of  age;  and  be- 
sides nature  had  done  for  me  all 
the  naturalizing  that  was  needed. 
Nevertheless,  I  was  assured  by  my 
boss  that  if  I  attempted  to  vote  my 
vote  would  be  challenged  and  dire 
consequences  would  follow  if  I  per- 
sisted in  voting,  and  sure  enough, 
when  I  stepped  up  to  the  polls  with 
all  the  tremulous  dignity  of  a  new 
made  citizen  and  presented  my  bal- 
lot, it  was  promptly  challenged.  I 
raised  my  hand  ready  to  swear  it 
in,  when  I  was  told  with  a  laugh 
to  go  ahead,  I  was  all  right.  I 
have  always  been  proud  of  that  vote, 
for  at  the  head  of  the  ticket  stood 
the  name  of  Abraham  Lincoln  of 
Illinois,  followed  by  that  of  Hanni- 
bal Hamlin  of  Maine,  who  was  the 
candidate  of  the  party  for  vice  pres- 
ident. 

The  attitude  of  the  several  par- 
ties on  the  question  of  slavery  at 
the  time  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  election 
was  about  as  follows:  The  repub- 
lican party  insisted  that  slavery 
should  be  confined  where  it  already 
existed,  i.  e.  within  the  territory 
bounded  by  Mason  and  Dixon's  line, 
and  that  congress  alone  had  power 
to  legislate  it  into  the  territories, 
because  the  general  government  was 
the  only  law-making  and  law-ad- 
ministrating power  in  the  territory. 
It  was,  therefore,  a  constitutional 
question,  and  would  require  a  ma- 
jority of  three-fourths  of  the  states 
and  of  two-thirds  of  both  Houses 
of  Congress  to  change  the  constitu- 
tion   and     admit     it     into    the    terri- 


THE   SIMPLE   LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


lories.  The  Southern  wing  of  I  he 
Democratic  party,  represented  by 
Mr.  Breckenridge,  maintained  that 
under  the  constitution,  it  already 
existed  by  right  in  the  territories 
of  the  United  States  and  could  only 
be  excluded  by  action  of  Congress. 
The  Northern  wing  of  that  party, 
led  by  Judge  Douglass,  insisted  that 
the  constitution  was  practically  sil- 
ent on  this  phase  of  the  slavery 
(luesiion,  and  that  the  troublesome 
problem  could  not  be  settled  by  an 
appeal  to  that  instrument,  that  it 
was  a  matter  to  be  left  for  settle- 
ment to  the  people  of  the  territories 
ihemselves,  a  doctrine  which  ^Ir. 
Douglass  called  "squatter  sovereign- 
ty." Mr.  Bell  represented  nothing 
particularly,  he  was  a  mere  go-be- 
tween, who  cut  very  little  figure  in 
tlie  campaign.  A  popular  writer  of 
the  day  puts  it  in  this  way:  "The 
Lincoln  party  was  in  favor  of  vot- 
ing slavery  down  in  tlie  western  ter- 
ritories. The  Breckenridge  party 
was  in  favor  of  voting  it  up.  Doug- 
lass did  not  care  whether  it  was 
voted  up  or  down  and  the  Bell  and 
Everett  party  didn't  know  anylliing 
about    nothing." 

The  election  of  :\Ir.  Lincoln  over 
the  torn  and  disunited  Democracy 
sounded  a  grave  note  of  alarm. 
"Will  it  be  made  the  pretext  for 
actual  hostilities?"  was  the  nervous 
(|uestion  asked  over  and  over  again. 
Then  it  would  be  dismissed  as  a 
fear  that  was  utterly  absurd.  "Why, 
the  secession  scarecrow  has  been 
dangled  before  our  eyes  too  many 
years  to  produce  any  fright  now," 
said  the  North  to  itself,  and  then 
as  some  one  has  said,  "It  would 
sink  back  on  its  pillow  of  security 
with  a  shamed  face  smile  to  think 
that  it  had  caught  Itself  dreaming 
aloud."       While     tlio    people    of    the 


South  were  hanging  over  the  preci- 
pice of  disunion  and  anxiously  peer- 
ing down  to  see  what  was  hidden 
in  the  valley  below.  If  they  could 
have  seen  the  awful  torrent  of 
blood  and  tears  that  was  to  come, 
that  was  destined  to  overwhelm  the 
nation,  the  raised  right  arms  of 
North  and  South  alike,  would  have 
dropped  shuddering  at  their  sides 
and  there  would  have  been  no  war. 
Jefferson  Davis  had  declared  in  a 
speech  in  the  U.  S.  Senate  delivered 
in  :\Iay,  IS 60,  that  the  South  would 
regard  the  simple  election  of  a  Re- 
publican president  as  an  overt  act 
of  hostilities.  Toombs  of  Georgia, 
and  Wigfall  of  Texas  and  other  fire 
eaters  were  even  wore  bitter,  the 
breach  continued  to  widen  till  the 
guns  of  Beauregard  at  Fort  Sump- 
ter  awakened  the  sleeping  North  to 
a  realization  of  the  fact  that  the 
South  was  determined  to  make 
good  its  boast. 

Scenes  like  that  which  occurred 
in  the  Ohio  House  of  Representa- 
tives were  not  uncommon  in  the 
northern  states.  Gen.  Cox  says  "a 
senator  ran  in  from  the  lobby  in 
an  excited  way  and  catching  the 
speaker's  eye  said,  Mr.  President,  a 
tele.gram  announces  that  the  seces- 
sionists are  bombarding  Fort  Sump- 
ter."  There  was  a  solemn  and 
painful  hush,  but  it  was  broken  in 
a  moment  by  a  woman's  shrill  voice 
from  the  spectators  seat,  crying, 
"Glory  to  God."  It  startled  every- 
one, almost  as  if  the  enemy  was  in 
their  midst,  but  it  was  the  voice  of 
a  radical  friend  of  the  slave,  Abbey 
Kelly  Foster,  who,  after  a  lifetime 
spent  in  public  agitation,  believed 
that  the  freedom  of  the  slave  could 
only  be  accomplished  by  blood  atone- 
ment. Then  came  the  President's 
proclamation      calling      for      7'), 000 


;)(j 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


men  to  serve  for  three  months;  very 
few  people  thought  the  war  would 
last  over  three  months.  A  war 
spirit  was  aroused,  war  meetings 
were  held,  patriotic  speeches  were 
made,  patriotic  sermons  were 
preached,  the  flag  was  unfurled  and 
it  floated  from  every  public  build- 
ing; private  residences  were  adorn- 
ed with  its  beautiful  folds,  martial 
music  filled  the  streets,  new  songs 
were  made  to  fit  the  times,  the 
newspapers  were  filled  with  war  dis- 
patches, and  war  editorials,  war  was 
in  the  air,  red,  bloody,  cruel  war; 
men  breathed  it  into  their  lungs, 
women  had  it  in  their  hearts;  com- 
panies were  organized,  regiments 
were  formed,  rendesvous  were  ap- 
pointed and  officers  were  chosen. 
And  then  as  the  hour  of  departure 
drew  on,  kisses  were  lovingly  ex- 
changed between  the  dear  ones  so 
soon  to  be  separated,  perhaps  for- 
ever. Blessings  were  tenderly  pro- 
nounced, promises  were  solemly 
made  by  stalwart  sons  to  anxious 
mothers,  yes,  promises  to  be  very 
careful  to  keep  out  of  danger  and 
not  get  hurt,  very  pitiful  indeed 
were  these  partings  in  many  in- 
i-'tances.  O,  it  was  war,  war,  war, 
with  a  long  and  dreadful  train  of 
consequences  like  a  black  cloud 
speeding  on  its  direful  course,  full 
of  civil   omen. 

Immediately  upon  receipt  of  the 
news  that  Fort  Sumter  had  been 
fired  upon  by  the  seceeders,  men 
everywhere  sprang  to  arms,  offer- 
ing their  services  to  the  government. 
Republicans  and  Democrats  alike 
vied  with  each  other  in  patriotic 
fervor. 

The  Clinton  County  Guards,  a 
company  of  young  men  from  Lyons 
and  Clinton,  Iowa,  and  the  sur- 
rounding  country   was   recruited    un- 


der the  president's  call  of  April  l.'>, 
1861,  asKing  for  7.5,000  volunteers 
to  serve  for  three  months.  The 
company  was  not  long  in  perfecting 
an  organization,  which  was  effected 
by  the  election  of  H.  P.  Cox,  Cap- 
tain; N.  B.  Howard,  First  Lieuten- 
ant, and  Thomas  Snowden,  Second 
Lieutenant.  Four  Sergeants  were 
also  chosen  and  four  Corporals,  of 
whom  1  was  one.  The  company  was 
enrolled  May  6,  1861,  and  ordered 
to  report  at  Keokuk,  Iowa  soon  af- 
terward. 


CHAPTER  X. 
There  was  much  of  romance 
thrown  around  the  enlistments  of 
the  volunteers  in  those  first  days 
of  the  war.  We  were  feted  and 
feasted,  lionized  by  our  friends  and 
neighbors  with  all  the  glamour  and 
pomp  and  circumstance  accorded 
the  Knights  of  old  who  were  about 
to  embark  on  a  crusade  to  the  Holy 
Land,  under  the  far  famed  Richard 
of  the  Lien  Heart.  The  ladies  of 
Lyons  and  Clinton  were  quite  as 
patriotic  and  quite  as  enthusiastic 
as  were  the  men;  they  assembled  at 
the  city  hall  and  with  needles  and 
thread  and  thimbles  helped  the  tail- 
ors to  get  us  into  uniforms  as  soon 
as  possible.  We  were  presented 
with  a  uniform  of  gray,  the  pants 
were  adorned  with  stripes  of  red, 
quite  three-fourths  of  an  inch  in 
width  and  ran  from  the  top  to  the 
bottom.  My  goodness,  how  proud 
we  were;  at  first  we  strutted 
around  like  so  many  turkey  gob- 
lers,  puffed  up  by  our  finery.  And 
why  not?  Were  we  not  soldiers  of 
the  United  States,  and  were  we  not 
going  to  war?  Yes,  sir,  and  in 
three  months  we  would  be  back 
again  with  the  rebels  whipped  and 
the  rebellious  states  all  in  the 
Union    once    more. 


TFIE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


57 


The  Lyons  :\Iinor,  whose  editor, 
Mr.  W.  D.  Eaton,  has  been  a  per- 
sonal friend  of  mine  over  fifty  years, 
speaks  of  an  incident  connected  with 
the  first  day  of  the  company  as  fol- 
lows: 

Co.  I  wa^  organized  at  Lyons, 
with  twenty-five  men  from  Clinton, 
and  others  from  the  surrounding 
country,  and  failing  to  get  into  the 
First  Iowa  under  the  three  months 
call,  waited  and  entered  the  Second 
for  three  years,  many  of  its  mem- 
bers continuing  in  the  field  through 
the    war. 

The  files  of  the  Mirror  for  those 
days  having  been  destroyed  by  the 
fire  of  1870,  we  fall  back  on  the 
Advocate  of  May  18th,  1861,  in 
which  an  account  is  given  of  the 
dorarture  of  the  company  for  Keo- 
kuk, on  the  steamer  Northerner,  at 
four  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the 
17th.  After  speaking  of  the  infan- 
try band  visiting  Clinton  in  the  fore- 
noon of  th-e  16th.  under  escort  of 
the  cavalry  recruits  afterwards  be- 
coming Co.  B.  First  Iowa  Cavalry, 
the   Advocate   said: 

In  the  afternoon  they  assembled 
and  marched  to  their  narade  ground, 
accompanied  bv  the  Hawkeye  Rang- 
ers, Capt.  Leffingwell.  and  the  fire 
companies,  when  a  beautiful  silk 
banner  was  presented  them  by  the 
Indies  of  the  city.  The  presenta- 
tion was  made  in  behalf  of  the 
ladies  by  Capt.  W.  E.  Leffingwell, 
who  made  a  speech  in  his  usvial 
happy  style  perfectly  appropriate  to 
the  occasion.  The  banner  was  re- 
ceived and  a  reply  made  in  behalf 
of  the  volunteers  by  Rev.  A.  .1. 
Kynett.  which  was  also  one  fitting 
the  occasion.  The  whole  affair  went 
off  pleasantly,  and  the  d^y  was  one 
long  to  be  remembered  in  our  city. 
A  very  large  number  of  people  con- 
gregated to  witness  the  presenta- 
tion and  to  bid  adieu  to  the  patri- 
otic band  about  to  depart  for  the 
war. 

Other  like  incidents  followed,  but 
this  first  scene  of  the  kind  yet  vivid- 
ly remains  in  the  memories  of  the 
surviving  participants. 

The  flag  referred  to  by  the  Mirror 
was    of    silk,    it    was    nine    feet    long 


and  five  feet  wide  and  as  I  shall 
speak  of  it  in  another  place  it  will 
net  be  necessary  to  make  any  furth- 
er mention  of  it  at  this  time. 

Just  before  the  company  took  its 
departure  for  Keokuk,  an  incident 
occurred  which  well  illustrates  the 
intensity  of  feeling  among  the  loyal 
people  of  the  North  against  those 
who  were  opposed  to  the  war  at  that 
early  day  and  who  were  afterwards 
called  "copperheads,"  because  of 
their  secret  machinations  against 
the  government.  "Copperhead"  was 
a  venomous  serpent  of  the  rattle- 
family,  which  however,  is  without 
rattles  and  gives  no  warning  before 
it  strikes.  A  prominent  resident  of 
the  town  who  was  a  man  of  consid- 
erable influence  but  was  persona 
non  grata  to  many  on  account  of 
his  haughty  ways,  was  known  to  be 
a  "copperhead,"  and  inasmuch  as 
everyone  was  expected  to  allign  him- 
self on  one  side  or  the  other,  he 
was  requested  to  show  his  colors. 
At  tbis  he  became  very  indignant 
and  declared  that  he  would  do  noth- 
ing of  the  sort,  not  he,  whereupon 
he  was  waited  upon  by  a  squad  of 
the  guards  and  notified  that  if  the 
flag  was  not  flying  from  his  resi- 
dence within  an  hour,  his  home 
would  be  torn  down  over  his  ears, 
and  since  it  was  of  brick,  the  con- 
sequences might  be  serious.  With- 
in the  hour,  the  flag  was  fluttering 
in  the  breeze  and  the  house  was  not 
disturbed.  The  gentleman,  how- 
ever, not  long  afterward  sold  out 
and  left  the  town  for  more  con- 
genial associations. 

Soon  after  this  word  was  received 
by  the  company  to  be  ready  to  go 
into  camp  at  Keokuk.  The  steamer 
upon  which  we  were  to  take  passage 
was  expected  down  from  the  North 
nt    sundown    one    Thursday    evening 


o» 


THE   SIMPLE   LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


abcut  the  middle  of  May.  As  the 
hour  approached  the  company  be- 
gan to  assemble  with  many  of  the 
citizens  at  the  landing,  but  word 
was  soon  received  that  our  boat  was 
delayed  and  there  was  no  telling 
just  when  she  would  arrive;  and  as 
a  matter  of  fact,  she  did  not  put  in 
an  appearance  till  nearly  morning;  so 
the  night  was  spent  in  waiting  for 
the  boat  and  visiting  with  our 
friends,  and  it  passed  quickly 
enough  for  some  of  us,  for  we  were 
very  pleasantly  engaged.  At  length 
when  the  whistle  blew  announcing 
the  arrival  of  the  boat,  the  strag- 
glers hastily  ran  down  to  the  land- 
ing and  all  the  boys  were  on  hand 
at  the  levee  when  she  was  made 
fast  and  the  gang  planks  were 
pushed  out.  We  were  soon  aboard, 
having  said  our  final  farewell  and 
then  at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
amid  the  waving  of  handkerchiefs, 
the  shouts  of  our  friends  and  the 
whistling  of  the  steamer,  we  backed 
out  into  the  stream  with  flags  fly- 
ing and  the  band  adding  to  the  en- 
thusiasm the  inspiring  strains  of 
the    "Star    Spangled    Banner." 

It  is  said  that  during  the  Crimean 
war,  one  night  before  the  storming 
of  the  Malakoff,  the  entire  Biritish 
army  lying  in  the  trenches  before 
Sebastopol  joined  their  voices  and 
sang  together  the  famous  Scottish 
ballad,  "Annie  Laurie." 
"They  sang  of  love  and  not  of  fame, 

Forgot    was    Britain's    glory: 
Each  heart  recalled  a  different  name, 

But  all  sang  'Annie  Laurie.'  " 

The  scene  on  the  steamer  as  I  re- 
call it  after  so  many  years  was  not 
unlike  that  in  one  respect  at  least, 
for  though  we  were  not  yet  in  the 
trenches  we  were  on  the  way  there, 
and  some  of  us  in  groups  by  our- 
selves sang  "Annie  Laurie,"  while 
others   sang   other    favorites   and    all 


were  thinking  of  the  loved  ones  we 
were  leaving  behind  us,  wondering 
whether  we  would  ever  see  them 
again. 

In  due  time  we  reached  Keokuk, 
after  a  pleasant  run  down  the  river, 
and  were  assigned  quarters  with 
several  other  companies  which  were 
already   in    rendezvous    there. 

Squad  and  company  drill  was  be- 
gun at  once  and  was  kept  up  with 
a  zeal  that  from  the  commanders' 
standpoint  was  highly  commendable, 
but  as  those  embyro  soldiers  view- 
ed it,  was  declared  to  be  "too  much 
of  a  good  thing;  there  was  no  use 
overdoing  it;  they  didn't  enlist  to  be 
drilled  and  paraded  around  all  day 
long,  they  enlisted  to  flglit,  and 
they  didn't  see  no  sense  in  so  much 
drilling,  nohow."  But  the  drills 
were  continued  with  little  regard  to 
the  feelings  or  wishes  of  the  men, 
for  we  were  to  be  made  into  real 
soldiers  and  fitted  as  well  as  might 
be  for  the  serious  work  which  lay 
before  us.  Some  of  us  lived  to  see 
the  day  when  drill  and  discipline 
not  only  saved  us  from  defeat,  but 
was  largely  instrumental  in  win- 
ning for  the  Union  forces  one  of 
the  most  signal  victories  of  the  war. 

The  Clinton  County  Guards  had 
enlisted  under  President  Lincoln's 
first  call  for  seventy-five  thousand 
men  to  serve  for  three  months,  but 
very  soon  after  we  reached  Keokuk 
thirty  companies  were  gathered 
there,  and  as  the  state  of  Iowa  had 
only  been  asked  for  one  regiment 
as  its  quota,  it  dawned  upon  us  that 
our  services  might  not  be  needed 
after  all.  That,  however,  was  an 
error,  which  was  soon  dispelled,  for 
on  the  third  day  of  May  the  presi- 
dent issued  his  first  call  for  men 
to  serve  for  three  years  or  during 
the    war.      The    thirty    companies    in 


THE   SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


o9 


rt'iidezvous  were  divided  into  three 
regiments,  to  be  known  as  the  First, 
Second  and  Third  Iowa  Infantry; 
the  First  alone  being  mustered  in 
for  three  months,  the  Second  and 
Third  for  ihree  years.  The  Clin- 
ton County  Guards  fell  into  the 
Second,  and  from  that  time  forward 
ceased  to  be  known  by  the  name 
under  which  it  had  been  enrolled, 
but  was  mustered  into  the  service 
of  the  United  States  as  Company  I, 
Second  Iowa  Infantry  Volunteers. 
The  field  officers  were  immediately 
elected  by  vote  of  the  line  officers 
and  men.  Samuel  R.  Curtis,  who 
war?  at  that  time  the  member  of 
Congress  from  the  first  district,  was 
elected  Colonel;  James  M.  Tuttle, 
Lieut.  Colonel  and  Marcellus  M. 
Crocker,  Major.  Lieut.  N.  P.  Chip- 
man  was  appointed  Adjutant.  Mr. 
L.  D.  Ingersoll,  author  of  "Iowa  and 
the  Reliellion,"  speaks  of  the  regi- 
ment in  the  following  complimen- 
tary terms:  "The  Second  Regiment 
of  Iowa  Volunteer  Infantry,  one  of 
the  most  distinguished  of  our  com- 
mands, was  organized  at  Keokuk 
very  soon  after  the  commencement 
of  the  war.  It  was  the  first  regi- 
ment of  three  years'  men  that  our 
Etate  sent  into  the  field,  and  the 
first  of  all  to  leave  Iowa  for  the 
theatre  of  war.  Its  companies  were 
enrolled  during  that  first  splendid 
uprising  of  enthusiasm  which  fol- 
lowed the  atrocious  bombardment  of 
Fort  Sumter,  and  they  had  within 
their  ranks  many  men  of  great  tal- 
ents and  of  considerable  reputation 
in  the  state.  There  never  was,  per- 
haps, in  any  country  a  military 
organization  of  equal  numbers 
which  possessed  more  men  of 
merit."  This  kindly  expressed  es- 
timate of  the  regiment  is  not  be- 
yond   the    facts,      It    is    in    no   sense 


overdrawn.  It  is  fully  sustained  by 
the  record  made  by  both  officers 
and  men,  a  record  of  which  the  state 
of  Iowa  has  ever  been  proud. 

S.  R.  Curtis  soon  became  a  Major 
General,  and  for  a  time  had  com- 
mand of  the  Department  of  the 
Missouri.  He  commanded  our  army 
at  the  battle  of  Pea  Ridge  which 
he  wen,  greatly  distinguishing  him- 
self there,  as  also  subsequently  dur- 
ing the  wair.  Turtle,  "Old  Pap 
Tuttle"  as  the  boys  called  him,  be- 
came a  Brigadier  General,  and  was 
known  all  through  the  western  army 
as  a  soldier  worthy  of  his  rank. 
Crocker  rose  to  the  rank  of  Major 
General  and  acquired  great  military 
fame. at  .Jackson  and  Champion's 
Hill.  Chipman  was  made  an  Aid- 
de-Camp  in  the  regular  army  with 
the  rank  of  Colonel,  and  was  Judge 
Advocate  of  the  Court,  which  tried 
the  monster  Wirz  of  Andersonville 
prison    fame. 

The  regiment  left  Keokuk  on  the 
13th  of  June,  disembarking  at  Han- 
nibal, Missouri,  and  moving  to  the 
western  part  of  the  state,  with 
headquarters  at  Saint  Joseph.  This 
journey  across  the  state  was  made 
during  what  was  known  as  the 
"Reign  of  Terror"  in  northern  Mis- 
souri. We  were  given  the  duty  of 
guarding  the  railroad  eastward  from 
St.  Joseph,  which  was  constantly 
threatened  by  rebel  citizens  known 
as  "bridge  burners,"  who  made  it 
their  mission  to  destroy  the  rail- 
roads and  gather  in  recruits  for 
General  Jackson  and  the  rebel  army. 

The  Iowa  State  Register  and 
Leader  of  recent  date  contains  an 
interesting  reference  to  this  early 
period  of  the  war  in  Missouri,  and 
the  part  taken  by  the  Second  Iowa 
in  it,  which,  as  it  says,  was  entirely 
overlooked    in    all    reports    made    by 


GO 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  CO^mONER 


oflicers  to  I  he  War  Department  at 
Washington: 

"Colonel  Crosley,  who  has  charge 
of  the  compilation  of  the  soldiers' 
roster  at  the  capitol,  yesterday  came 
upon  one  of  the  most  important  offi- 
cial reports  among  those  made  by 
the  Iowa  officers,  but  no  trace  of 
which,  curious  as  it  seems,  is  found 
in  the  official  records.  By  some 
strange  oversight  it  was  not  includ- 
ed in  the  copies  of  official  reports 
published  by  Adjutant  '  General  N. 
B.  Baker,  in  either  of  the  volumes 
of  his  reports,  during  or  after  the 
close  of  the  war;  neither  can  it  be 
found  in  the  war  of  the  rebellion 
records  published  by  the  war  de- 
partment. 

Yet  it  has  reference  to  one  of  the 
most  important  early  events  at  the 
west,  with  particular  reference  to 
the  beginning  of  the  campaign  in 
Missouri  in  the  spring  and  summer 
of    1861. 

This  old  report  is  dated  "Camp 
Lyon,  St.  Joseph,  Mo.,  .Tune  27, 
1861,"  and  is  addressed  to  "Brig. 
Gen.  N.  Lyon,  commanding,"  and 
signed  "Samuel  R.  Curtis,  Col.  Sec- 
ond Iowa  Volunteers,  commanding 
expedition." 

It  gives  in  detail  and  at  length 
the  movement  of  the  troops  under 
his  command,  but  the  vital  feature 
of  the  report  relates  to  the  manner 
in  which  the  Hannibal  &  St.  .Toe  and 
the  North  Missouri  railroads  were 
taken  possession  of  by  Colonel  Cur- 
tis. 

It  was  on  account  of  the  remark- 
able effectiveness  and  promptness 
with  \yhich  Colonel  Curtis  accom- 
plished this  vital  operation  that  he 
was  made  immediately  a  brigadier 
general,  which  led  later  to  the  rank 
of  ma.ior  general.  It,  too,  was  the 
beginning  of  the  career  of  the  gal- 
lant Second  Iowa  which  made  an 
unsurpaiSsed  record.  That  a  report 
of  the  importance  of  Colonel  Curtis 
with  respect  to  the  capture  of  the 
most  important  line  of  connection  in 
the  northwest,  and  which  would 
have  been  destroyed  had  he  delayed 
a  moment  in  executing  its  capture, 
should  have  been  overlooked  hith- 
erto is  amazing  to  military  experts 
and    to    historians. 


Colonel  Crosley  said  yesterday 
that  the  find  was  actually  invalu- 
able. Samuel  R.  Curtis  resigned 
from  congress  to  take  command  of 
the  Second  Iowa.  He  was  a  West 
Pointer,  and  so  thoroughly  did  he 
instruct  his  men  that  the  Second 
was  the  first  Iowa  regiment  to  take 
the  field,  the  First  regiment  follow- 
ing the  next  day,  and  the  Third  a 
few  days  later.  On  June  13,  1861, 
Colonel  Curtis  received  a  telegram 
from  Gen.  Nathaniel  Lyon  ordering 
him  at  once  to  move  the  troops  un- 
der his  command  into  the  state  of 
Missouri,  with  specific  instructions 
to  take  military  control  of  the  lines 
of  the  Hannibal  &  St.  Joseph  and 
North   :Mi£Souri   railroads. 

Colonel  Curtis  states  in  his  official 
report  to  General  Lyon,  just  now 
discovered,  that  he  received  the 
order  at  1  o'clock  a.  m.  and  that 
at  .5  o'clock  a.  m.  the  Second  Iowa 
was  embarked  on  board  the  steamer 
Deans.  Landing  at  Hannibal,  Mo., 
the  same  day,  Colonel  Curtis  at  once 
proceeded  to  take  military  posses- 
sion of  the  railroads  indicatei,  us- 
ing for  that  purpose  the  Second 
Iowa  infantry,  the  First  Iowa  infan- 
try— which  had  followed  from  Keo- 
kuk and  reached  Hannibal  on  June 
4th — a  detachment  of  the  Sixteenth 
Illinois  infantry,  numbering  4  5  0, 
and  2.5  0  Home  Guards  which  he 
found  stationed  at  Hannibal  upon 
his  arrival  there,  making  in  all  a 
force  of  about  2,700  under  his  com- 
mand with  which  to  execute  the 
order  of  General  Lyon,  a  seemingly 
imposisible  task,  considering  the 
length  of  the  line  along  which  this 
small  army  was  to  be  distributed, 
but  without  hesitation  the  order  was 
obeyed. 

As  he  advanced,  small  forces  of 
the  enemy  were  encountered  and 
quickly  overcome,  flags,  munitions 
of  war,  prisoners  and  suipplies  were 
captured,  and  loyal  and  peaceable 
citizens  assured  protection.  Lea.v- 
ing  detachments  to  guard  the 
bridges,  buildings  and  other  rail- 
road property  from  destruction,  he 
pressed  forward,  and  at  the  conclu- 
sion of  this  famous  report  sai'^1: 

I  arrived  at  St.  Joseph  June  15, 
1861,    and    encamped    a    short     dis- 


THE  SniPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


(51 


tanoe  below  the  city  on  the  bank  of 
the  :\lissouri  river.  I  had  thus  in 
fifty-six  hours  from  the  time  your 
dispatch  reached  me  at  Keokuk  tak- 
en military  possession  of  the  entire 
road  and  established  a  sufficient 
guard  along  the  line  to  protect  it, 
and  at  the  same  time  scattered  and 
disorganized  the  rebel  forces  that 
were  mustering  through  this  portion 
of    Missouri. 

Upon  his  arrival  at  St.  .Joseph, 
Mo.,  he  found  a  force  of  6.^0  union 
troops,  which  had  been  sent  there 
by  General  Lyon.  When  the  expedi- 
tion started  from  Hannibal,  Colonel 
Curtis  was  not  aware  of  the  pres- 
ence of  these  troops  at  the  other 
end  of  the  line.  While  they  did  not 
directly  co-operate  in  his  expedition, 
the  fact  that  they  were  already  in 
possession  of  the  city  when  he  ar- 
rived there  was  an  important  factor 
in  the  success  of  this  most  remark- 
able   military   achievement. 

"The  promptness  with  which  the 
order  was  obeyed  alone  saved  this 
important  line  of  railroad  for  the 
transroitation  of  union  troops  and 
supplies,  an-l  prevented  a  more  pro- 
lon2;ed  resip.tance  by  the  rebel  forces 
in  that  portion  of  the  state  by  I\Tis- 
souri,"  says  Colonel  Crosley.  "Colo- 
nel Curtis  was  promptly  promoted 
to  the  rank  of  brigadier  general  and 
la*^er  was  given  the  rank  of  major 
general. 

"The  Second  Iowa  infantry  thus 
began  its  military  career  under  an 
able  leader  whose  influence  and  ex- 
ample was  an  inspiration  to  the 
splendid  officers  who  subsequently 
became  its  commanders,  succeeding 
each  other  in  vacancies  caused  by 
promotion,  by  death  on  the  battle- 
field and  by  disabling  wounds." 

One  evening  soon  after  dark, 
while  part  of  the  regiment  was  tem- 
porarily stationed  at  Macon  City  an 
accident  occurred  which  filled  us  all 
with  sadness.  We  had  all  lain 
down  for  the  night,  and  quiet  brood- 
ed over  the  camp  as  mcst  of  the 
boys  were  fast  asleep,  and  those  who 
were  still  awake  were  so  worn  with 
ceaseless  vigil  that  they  were  n^t  in 


a  humor  for  much  excitement,  be- 
sides, we  were  in  the  enemy's  coun- 
try with  a  watchful  foe  close  about 
us.  The  guard  had  just  been  chang- 
ed and  those  who  returned  to  camp 
found  us  lying  on  our  arms,  the 
guns  loaded  and  ready  for  immedi- 
ate action.  Unfortunately  one  of 
the  returning  guards  accidentally 
struck  his  foot  against  the  lock  of 
a  loaded  musket  in  such  a  way  as 
to  cause  its  discharge.  The  bullet 
entered  the  side  of  Albert  Winchell, 
one  of  the  brightest  and  best  boys 
in  the  .company,  who,  when  he  en- 
listed, was  a  student  at  Cornell  Col- 
lege. He  lived  only  two  or  three 
days.  Just  before  dying,  he  said: 
"Boys,  if  it  had  only  been  done  in 
battle  I  wouldn't  have  cared,  but  it 
is  hard  to  die  this  way."  And  in- 
deed it  was,  but  such  are  the  for- 
tunes of  war,  and  the  soldier  must 
submit.  His  body  was  sent  home 
and  was  interred  with  all  the  honors 
of  war,  a  large  concourse  attending 
the  funeral  of  the  first  of  our  com- 
pany   to    fall. 

Replying  to  a  letter  of  inquiry 
about  Winchell,  I  wrote  from  St. 
•Joseph  a  few  days  later:  "Poor 
fellow,  he  was  asleep  when  he  was 
shot.  I  shall  never  forget  the  look 
he  gave  me  when  he  awoke.  I 
thought  he  would  have  died  imme- 
diately. I  heard  him  mumbling 
something:  Mr.  Pennyman  said  he 
was  praying.  Mr.  P.  and  I  stayed 
with  him;  the  company  was  ord- 
ered away  and  we  two  were  left  to 
take  care  of  him.  I  sat  up  with  him 
the  first  night;  he  was  in  great  pain. 
I  started  for  St.  Joseph  the  next 
morning  after  our  nurse  and  a 
trunk  with  some  changes  of  linen, 
but  before  I  could  get  back  he  was 
dead.  Mr.  Bettesworth  had  been 
sent  on  by  the  Captain  to  take  him 
home.     I  should  have  come  with  him 


()2 


THE   SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COIMMONER 


had  I  been  there  at  the  time,  and 
would  never  have  left  him  if  I  had 
known    the    end    was   so    near." 

Al  Hunnewell  occurred  the  death 
of  the  first  rebel  at  the  hands  of  a 
member  of  our  regiment.  We  were 
marching  through  the  village  and 
one  of  the  boys  asked  a  young  man 
who  happened  to  be  standing  near 
■a  well,  for  a  drink  of  water.  His 
request  was  not  only  refused,  but 
the  refusal,  it  was  reported,  was 
accompanied  with  an  insulting  re- 
mark and  at  the  same  instant  the 
rebel  attempted  to  fire  a  revolver 
at  our  man.  For  some  reason  it 
missed  fire,  and  before  he  could 
aim  it  again  he  was  shot  dead  in 
the  presence  of  his  poor  old  mother, 
who  was  standing  a  few  feet  away 
from  him.  It  was  a  sad  thing  and 
very  wierd,  but  it  was  only  an  in- 
cident of  war  and  though  it  was  the 
first  of  its  kind  to  us,  it  caused 
only  a  passing  flutter  and  was  soon 
forgotten  in  the  stirring  events 
which    followed. 

A  few  evenings  after  that,  while 
an  energetic  German  was  on  picket 
guard,  one  of  the  boys  thought  he 
would  have  a  little  fun  at  "Bill's" 
expense,  so  he  slipped  outside  the 
line  and  made  his  way  cautiously  in 
the  direction  of  the  lone  sentinel, 
who  heard  him  coming,  but  the 
night  being  dark,  he  could  not  see 
who  it  was,  so  he  shouted,  "Halt 
dare,  halt  dare,  I  tells  you,  advance 
unt  say,  'Alia  Villa,'  or  by  chinks  I 
blows  de  top  of  your  head  off  al- 
retty."  It  is  needless  to  say  that 
the  countersign,  which  was  "Palo 
Alta,  was  promptly  given.  During 
the  latter  part  of  July  the  regiment 
was  ordered  to  Bird's  Point,  Mis- 
souri, which  lies  just  across  the 
IMississippi  river  from  Cairo,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Ohio,  and  geographic- 
ally   is    to    southeast    Missouri    what 


fet.  Joseph  is  to  the  northeasitern 
part  of  the  state.  Here  our  duties 
were  similar  to  those  we  had  been 
performing  at  St.  Joseph  and  vicin- 
ity. It  was  at  Bird's  Point  I  re- 
ceived my  first  promotion  from  Cor- 
poral to  Second  Sergeant.  After  a 
brief  stay  at  the  Point  we  broke 
camp  and  prepared  to  leave  for  a 
healthier  location.  We  were  glad  to 
do  this  for  the  regiment  in  a  very 
short  time  had  become  reduced  by 
malarial  influences  and  camp  diar- 
rhoea from  nearly  one  thousand 
men  to  a  little  over  four  hundred 
fit    for    duty. 

The  regiment  was  ordered  to  Pilot 
Knob,  a  point  about  one  hundred 
miles  southwest  of  St.  Louis,  which 
place  we  reached  in  good  time.  All 
the  troops  in  that  territory  were 
given  an  important  stunt,  which  was 
no  less  a  task  than  to  capture  Jeff 
Thompson,  a  noted  rebel  guerrilla, 
who  by  his  great  activity  and  per- 
tect  knowledge  of  the  country  was 
a  constant  annoyance  to  our  men, 
whom  he  pestered  day  and  night. 
The  peripatetic  Jeff  slipped  away 
from  us  so  often  when  we  thought 
we  had  him  sure,  that  the  boys  at 
last  absolutely  refused  to  believe  in 
the  existence  of  any  Jeff  Thompson 
in  the  flesh,  and  as  freely  expressed 
their  opinions  to  one  another  upon 
the  subject  as  did  Betsy  Prig  to 
Sairy  Gamp,  when  she  said  concern- 
ing the  alleged  former  husband  of 
that  lady,  "I  don't  believe  there's 
no  sich  a  person."  But  then  there 
was  although  he  was  like  uncle 
Ephraim's  crow,  Peter  Jackson, 
"when  you  cotched  him  sab,  lie  was 
done  gone   clar   way   fum   dar." 

At  Pilot  Knob  we  found  some 
troops  from  Illinois  and  Missouri 
under  command  of  General  B.  M. 
Prentis,  who  later  won  fame  at 
Pittsburg  Landing.      While  there  we 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  CO.\nrONER 


n?, 


were  jrined  by  the  Seventh  Iowa, 
which  had  jiist  entered  the  service 
and  became  a  part  of  our  brigade, 
remaining  with  us  till  the  close  of 
I  he  war.  During  our  stay  at  Pilot 
Knob  it  was  reported  that  a.  ques- 
tion of  rank  had  arisen  between 
General  Prentis  and  General  Grant, 
who  had  received  his  commission  as 
Brigadier  General  at  Cairo.  Gen- 
eral Grant  had  entered  the  service 
as  Colonel  of  the  Twenty-first  Illi- 
nois Infantry  and  had  been  promot- 
ed a?  stated.  The  question  was  fin- 
ally settled  in  Grant's  favor,  whose 
commission,  it  was  reported,  was 
dated  but  an  hour  or  two  before 
il'.at  of  Gen.  Prentis.  Who  shall  say 
tiiat  this  little  difference  of  date 
may  not  have  had  a  far-reaching  in- 
liuence  on   tlie   fortunes  of  the  war? 


CHAPTER    XI. 

We  remained  at  Pilot  Knob,  or 
Ironton,  till  the  2  7th  of  August, 
wlien  we  were  ordered  to  Jackson, 
.Missouri,  where  the  regiment  ling- 
ered till  September  Sth.  From 
Jackson  we  marched  to  Fort  Jeff- 
erson, Kentucky  and  there  we  stay- 
id  until  September  2nrd,  when  we 
were  ordered  back  to  our  old  camp- 
ing ground  at  Bird's  Point.  In  the 
meantime  Col.  Curtis  had  been  pro- 
moted to  Brigadier  General;  Tuttle 
had  been  commissioned  Colonel  and 
Crocker  Lieutenant  Colonel;  he  was 
soon  afterward,  however,  given  the 
Colonelcy  cf  the  Thirteenth  Iowa 
Infantry  and  Captain  Baker  of  Co. 
"G"  became  Lieutenant  Colonel 
with  Adjutant  Chipman  as  Major. 

There  were  many  interesting  feat- 
ures connected  with  our  tramps 
about  Missouri,  some  of  which  were 
very  pleasing.  Soon  after  leaving 
Ii'onton  we  met  with  a  gratifying 
surprise  in  the  discovery  of  a  large 
orchard    loaded    wifh      apples       and 


peaches.  It  was  a  delightful  find 
for  the  fruit  was  thoroughly  ripe 
and  w,as  really  delicious.  For  a 
long  time  after  eating  them  my 
mouth  would  water  at  the  thought 
of  those  peaches.  Never  in  my  lif(> 
had  I  tasted  anything  that  seenied 
so  good;  they  were  even  better  than 
English  mince  pie,  and  that  is  say- 
ing a  great  deal.  We  all  ate  and 
ate  till  we  could  eat  no  more  and 
then  for  a  change  we  would  eat  an 
apple  just  to  prepare  the  way  for 
more  peaches.  I  think  it  must  have 
been  M'ith  us  as  it  is  said  to  have 
l)een  with  a  certain  individual,  who, 
upon  being  told  that  he  might  make 
three  choices  of  whatever  he  liked 
best,  chose  first,  plenty  of  whiskey: 
second  plenty  of  tobacco;  third  after 
hesitating  a  moment,  a  little  more 
whiskey.  We  had  only  one  cause 
of  regret  which  was  not  lessened  in 
any  \degree  because  it  was  shared 
by  all:  there  was  mourning  that  day 
because  there  was  a  limit  to  our 
capacities,  we  could  ear  no  more. 
Of  course  the  comm'anding  officers 
were  wroth  with  us;  we  were  given 
to  understand  that  such  depreda- 
tions as  we  had  committed  must  not 
be  repeated  under  any  circum- 
stances, that  though  we  were  in  the 
enemy's  country,  we  must  respect 
the  rights  of  property;  all  of  which 
was  listened  to  with  great  respect, 
but  with  very  little  inclination  to 
observe,  for  while  we  were  disposed 
to  guard  the  property  of  Union  men, 
M-hose  sympathies  we  knew  were 
with  us,  we  had  as  little  regard  for 
rebel  sympathizers  in  the  South  who 
lacked  the  courage  to  take  up  arms 
and  join  their  friends  at  the  front, 
as  we  had  for  copperheads  of  the 
North,  who  were  content  to  fire  at 
us   from  the  rear. 

The    owner   of   the   orcliard    was   a 
rebel  and  that  was  quite  enough  for 


(i4 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


us;     why    should    he    not    contribute 
to  our  comfort? 

In  those  first  months  of  the 
war  of  the  rebellion  there  was 
a  great  deal  of  unnecessary  squeam- 
ishness  about  the  conduct  of  the 
war,  which  gave  way  gradually  as 
the  struggle  progressed  and  as  the 
purposes,  methods  and  strength  of 
our  enemies  were  developed.  We 
became  impressed  with  the  thought 
that  there  was  in  the  minds  of  the 
authorities  at  Washington,  an  un- 
wholesome fear  of  unnecessarily  of- 
fending a  large  element  in  the  North 
whose  sympathies  were  not  openly 
with  us,  who  might  be  won  over 
by  a  mild  conduct  of  the  war  but 
be  hopelessly  driven  from  us  by  a 
vigorous  prosecution  on  the  part  of 
our  armies.  That  there  was  some 
foundation  for  this  feeling  cannot 
be  denied.  We  were  a  heterogeneous 
people,  thrown  together  from  many 
countries,  whose  political  notions 
and  social  views  were  very  differ- 
ent in  some  important  respects  from 
our  own.  Then  there  were  also 
commercial  complications  to  be  con- 
sidered. Trade  between  the  two 
sections  was  of  course  utterly  de- 
stroyed except  insofar  as  blockade 
runners  might  be  able  to  evade  the 
restrictions  imposed  by  the  conflict 
and  run  their  goods  into  southern 
ports.  The  large  manufacturers  and 
traders  of  New  York  as  well  as  the 
cotton  factories  of  Manchester  and 
Leeds  were  suffering  immense  losses 
through  the  war.  It  is  not  to  be 
wondered  at  therefore,  that  these 
people  with  the  thousands  of  mill 
operatives  and  workmen  generally 
who  were  dependent  upon  trade 
with  the  South,  should  feel  unkind- 
ly toward  combatants  who  were,  as 
they  understood  it,  responsible  for 
their  troubles.     In  addition  to  these 


considerations,  hostilities  were  at 
that  period,  confined  almost  entire- 
ly to  the  border  states.  In  the  west 
we  had  not  yet  pierced  beyond  Mis- 
souri and  Kentucky.  Neither  of 
these  states  had  formally  seceded 
from  the  Union,  though  efforts  had 
been  made  to  carry  them  out  with 
the  other  seceding  states.  Gover- 
nor Jackson  of  Missouri  and  Gover- 
nor McGoffin  of  Kentucky  had  done 
their  utmost,  but  both  of  them  had 
signally  failed,  for  in  spite  of  all 
they  were  able  to  do  their  geo- 
graphical position  made  their  states 
the  battle  ground  across  which  the 
armies  marched  and  fought  all 
through  the  war;  especially  was  this 
the  case  with  Kentucky.  Then,  toe, 
the  people  were  much  more  nearly 
equally  divided  in  their  sympathies 
than  was  the  case  in  the  states 
farther  south.  So  it  was  quite  dif- 
ficult often  to  know  who  were  union 
men  and  who  were  rebels;  who  were 
entitled  to  have  their  property 
guarded  a,nd  who  were  not.  In 
view  of  all  the  facts,  it  must  be  con- 
ceded that  the  officers  in  command 
were  acting  wisely  when  they  insist- 
ed on  recognizing  the  rights  of  prop- 
erty, and  punished  severely  any  who 
were  found  violating  those  rights. 
In  spite  of  all  their  efforts  however, 
the  soldiers  who  were  unable  to  ap- 
preciate these  considerations,  moved 
by  a  desire  for  something  besides 
hard  tack  and  salt  pork  raided  the 
surrounding  country  and  acquired 
perishable  property,  as  opportunity 
migiht  offer,  paying  for  what  they 
got  when  convinced  that  the  owners 
were  union  men  and  "gobbling"  it 
when  they  were  known  to  be  rebels. 
So  upon  leaving  Ironton  it  came  to 
pass  that  there  opened  before  us  as 
fine  a  field  for  this  sort  of  enter- 
prise   as    the    heart    of     any     soldier 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  CO^niONER 


could  wish  for.  Self  appointed  for- 
aging parlies  went  out  in  all  direc- 
tions, scouring  the  fields  and  the 
woods  for  game,  returning  to  camp 
loaded  down  with  the  fruits  of  the 
chase.  Surely  the  pigs  did  squeal, 
the  ducks  did  quack,  the  geese  did 
hiss  and  the  turkeys  did  gobble.  No 
conference  of  ministers  ever  made 
I  he  chickens  roost  higher  than  they 
roosted  on  that  memorable  march. 
Judging  from  pictures  which  ap- 
peared in  Harper's  Weekly,  repre- 
senting scenes  which  were  of  every 
day  occurrence,  one  would  almost 
have  to  believe  that  Don  Quixote 
had  risen  from  his  grave  to  lead  a 
new  onslaught  en  the  flocks  of  geese 
which  would  persistently  dispute 
our  passage  of  many  a  Mis-ouri 
Dardanelles. 

One  evening  just  about  dark  the 
command  reached  a  point  where  we 
were  to  camp  for  the  night.  The 
Ttnts  were  pitched  near  a  farm 
house,  which  was  surrounded  by 
peach  trees  laden  with  fruit.  Now, 
it  happened  to  be  my  turn  to  serve 
as  Sergeant  of  the  Guard  that  night. 

In  the  line  of  duty  I  had  placed 
the  guard  about  the  house  which 
was  occupied  as  headquarters  for 
the  officers,  and  in  returning  to  my 
tent  jumped  over  a  low  stone  wall 
which  served  as  a  fence  around  the 
house  and  orchard.  I  had  jumped 
the  v.-all  because  it  was  the  shortest 
cut  between  the  guard  line  and  the 
camp,  and  I  was  very  hungry  after 
the  all  day  march.  It  so  happened, 
however,  that  just  as  I  went  over 
the  wall  Major  Crocker,  who  was  in 
command  of  the  regiment  at  the 
time,  came  riding  past.  The  Major, 
not  knowing  I  was  on  duty  and 
thinking  I  had  been  stealing 
peaches,  immediately  opened  on  me 
with    his    double    shotted    battery    of 


heavy  verbal  artillery.  For  a  few 
moments  I  was  made  the  target  for 
a  lot  of  hot  shot  that  raked  me  fore 
and  aft.  It  was  red  pepper  and 
Greek  tire  combined.  Of  course  I  made 
no  reply,  but  when  he  had  exhaust- 
ed his  ammunition  and  had  ordered 
me  to  my  tent,  I  went  directly  to 
my  captain  and  told  him  what  had 
taken  place.  I  did  not  enjoy  being- 
branded  as  a  thief  and  had  no  in- 
tention of  resting  under  a  charge 
like  that.  Major  Crocker  was  pos- 
sessed of  a  quick  temper,  but  he 
was  also  a  gentleman,  and  so  when 
Captain  Cox  went  to  him  and  ex- 
plained the  situation,  how  I  came 
to  be  in  the  orchard  and  why  I  had 
jumped  ovei-  the  wall  instead  of  go- 
ing around  by  the  gate,  he  came  at 
once  to  our  tent  and  calling  me 
out,  apologized  to  me  in  the  pres- 
ence of  all  who  happened  to  be 
standing  near.  The  action  was 
characterisiic  of  the  man,  for  M. 
M.  Crocker  was  every  inch  a  gentle- 
man, a  man  of  fine  abilities  as  a 
lawyer  and  a  soldier,  who  became 
one  of  the  most  distinguished  of 
our    Major    Generals. 

It  was  at  this  point  that  I  wit- 
nessed for  the  first  time  the  cere- 
mony of  drumming  a  man  out  of 
camp.  The  offender  had  been 
guilty  of  some  disgraceful  trans- 
gression of  military  law  which  was 
punishable  by  dishonorable  dismis- 
sal from  the  army.  The  troops  were 
formed  into  a  hollow  square  and  the 
culprit,  with  coat  turned  inside  out 
and  his  hands  tied  behind  him  was 
marched  around  the  square  between 
two  files  of  soldiers,  to  the  tune  of 
"Rogue's  March,"  after  which  he 
was  conducted  outside  the  camp, 
his  hands  untied  and  he  wa^  told 
to  "git,"  which  he  did  in  short 
order   amid    the   shouts   and   jeers   of 


THE   SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


most  of  liis  old  comrades,  who  were 
glad    to   be   rid    of   him. 

During  our  second  sojourn  at 
P.iid's  I^oint  in  Sept.  1861,  General 
•ioiin  ('.  Fr(>m;)nt,  who  was  in  com- 
mand of  the  Department  of  the  Mis- 
souri, with  headquarters  at  St. 
I.ouis,  issued  a  general  order  to  the 
effect  that  any  slaves  fleeing  from 
their  masters  and  coming  into  our 
lines  were  to  be  allowed  their  lib- 
erty, sheltered,  fed,  and  given  every 
assis'iance  on  their  way  to  the  North 
and  freedom.  That  order  caused 
no  little  stir  among  the  Union 
troops,  some  of  whom  rejoiced  over 
it,  others  were  not  at  all  pleased 
with  it;  "they  had  not  enlisted  to 
help  free  the  niggers  and  they 
didn't  propose  to  do  it,  not  much, 
if  the  government  wanted  the  nig- 
gers freed  It  would  have  to  get 
Homebody  else  to  do  it,  for  tney 
wouldn't."  A  few  colored  people 
came  into  our  lines,  but  they  were 
not  encouraged  in  any  way,  and 
General  Fremont's  order,  which  was 
altogether  untimely,  was  immediate- 
ly countermanded  from  Washington 
and  Fremont  was  soon  superseded 
by  General  Halleck.  Fremont's 
heart. was  right  but  he  had  assumed 
a  prerogative  that  belonged  only  to 
the  Commander  in  Chief  of  the 
Army  and  Navy  of  the  United  States, 
who  in  good  time  issued  his  great 
proclamation  of  freedom  to  the 
slaves  of  the  South,  which  was  de- 
clared at  the  time  to  be  a  militai'y 
necessity. 

The  winter  of  18()1  was  spent  in 
St.  Louis  recuperating  and  doing 
provost  guard  duty  in  the  city.  It 
was  an  agreeable  change  fi-om  the 
malarial  camps  of  Missouri  and 
Kentucky,  and  was  greatly  enjoyed 
by  the  regiment,  as  it  gave  us  fine 
opportunities    to    see    the    sights    in 


the  city,  which  we  were  permitted 
to  do  under  the  necessary  restiic- 
ticns  imposed  by  military  law.  It 
(annoi  be  denied  that  these  restric- 
tions were  sometimes  broken  over; 
tlie  rules  were  not  always  complied 
with  as  they  should  have  been;-  same 
of  the  consequences  of  which  were 
seen  after  our  first  battle;  but  on' 
the  whole  there  was  no.  greater  com- 
plaint than  might  naturally  be.  ex- 
pected   under    the    circumstances. 

There  happened  to  be  at  that 
time  in  the  city  a  certain  institution 
known  as  McDowell's  College,  which 
was  being  used  as  a  prison  for  cap- 
tured rebels.  It  was  part  of  our 
duty  to  guard  the  prisoners  confin- 
ed within  its  walls  and  I  must  con- 
fess that  we  found  them  lo  be  as 
pleasant  a  lot  of  fellows  as  you 
would  be  likely  to  meet  anywhere 
en  earth.  There  was  one  young  fel- 
low for  w^hom  I  formed  quite  an 
attachment,  considering  the  few  op- 
portunities we  had  for  seeing  each 
other,  and  I  think  my  feelings  were 
reciprocated  by  him.  I  had  render- 
ed him  some  slight  service,  the  na- 
ture of  wliicih  has  passed  from  my 
memory  long  since,  bint  he  appeared 
to  be  very  grateful  for  it,  whatever 
it  was,  and  in  return  he  gave  me  a 
pipe  which  he  had  whittled  out  of 
some  .soft  stone  and  marked  with 
various  devices.  It  was  all  he  had. 
On  one  side  of  the  bowl  he  had  cut 
the  word  "Liberty."  on  the  opposite 
side  the  words,  "The  South."  On 
the  under  side  a  flag;  on  the  upper 
side  of  the  short  stem,  ".Jan  2Tth," 
and  on  the  under  side  the  word, 
"Mont;"  on  one  side  of  the  stem, 
"McDowell's,"  and  on  the  other, 
"College."  I  have  always  kept  that 
young  fellow  in  my  mind,  but  have 
never  seen  or  heard  of  him  since 
that  winter;  but  I  still  have  the 
pipe. 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


It  was  generally  supposed  that 
McDowell's  College  was  a  rebel  in- 
stitution, for  its  president,  Dr.  Mc-- 
Lowell,  was  reported  to  be  a  sur- 
jieon  in  the  Confederate  Army  in 
Texas,  which  was  enough  to  dissi- 
luite  any  respect  that  might  other- 
wise have  been  felt  for-  the  school 
as  a  seat  of  learning.  Connected 
witu  the  institution  there  was  a 
museum  which  contained  numerous 
specimens  of  natural  history,  such 
as  stuffed  rabbits,  dried  bais, 
mounted  owls,  toads,  striped  pigs 
and  various  other  uncanny  things 
which  we  were  told  weie  to  be  sac- 
redly guarded  from  vandalism.  Un- 
lortunately,  however,  there  was  a 
hole  in  one  of  the  walls  through 
wliich  some  scamp  managed  to 
crawl  and  find  his  way  into  the 
museum.  Once  there  he  appropriac- 
ed  several  of  the  specimens,  which 
he  disposed  of  down  town  in  ex-  • 
change  for  such  dainties  a.s  were  not 
to  be  had  at  the  barracks.  As  soon 
as  the  loss  was  discovered  a  great 
hue  and  cry  was  raised  over  it,  and 
strenuous  efforts  were  made  to  dis- 
(over  the  pilferer.  But  do  as  he 
v.ould  the  commanding  officer,  Gen- 
cial  Schuyler  Hamilton  was  unable 
lo  uncover  the  offender.  If  anyone 
knew  who  it  was  they  would  net 
tell,  Ko  the  guilty  party  went  un- 
punished. But  General  Hamilton 
was  not  to  be  defeated  in  his  pur- 
pose if  the  party  actually  guilty  of 
I  he  trespass  could  not  be  found, 
the  regiment  of  which  he  was  a 
member  should  be  made  to  feel  the 
weight  of  official  displeasure.  Now, 
it  so  happened  that  all  this  took 
place  just  as  we  were  about  to  em- 
bark for  active  service  in  the  field 
again.  A  general  order  was  issued 
in  which  the  regiment  was  publicly 
disgraced.      Our    march    through    the 


city  from  Benton  Barracks  to  the 
steamboat  landing  was  a  queer  af- 
fair. It  would  have  borne  all  the 
ear  marks  of  a  funeral  procession, 
had  it  not  been  for  the  sense  of 
humor  which  pervaded  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  regiment.  We  were  not 
allowed  to  carry  our  colors,  the  flag 
remained  furled  and  we  were  ord- 
ered to  march  without  music,  two 
things  that  no  true  soldier  could 
endure  without  prottst.  Even  so, 
we  found  a  remedy.  Every  man 
who  happened  to  be  the  happy  pos- 
sessor of  a  pocket  handkerchief  fas- 
tened it  to  the  bayonet  on  his  gun, 
and  it  immediately  became  a  flag. 
Well,  well;  there  were  flags  of  all 
shapes  and  sizes  and  colors,  clean 
and  unclean,  new  and  old  fluttering 
in  the  breeze  and  jauntily  proclaim- 
ing the  independence  of  the  boys 
who  carried  them;  but  that  was  not 
all.  We  keenly  felt  the  loss  of  our 
music,  especially  as  one  of  the  best 
bands  in  St.  Louis  had  enlisted  and 
joined  the  second  Iowa.  No,  we 
could  not  march  without  music,  so 
lo  supply  that  difficulty,  every  man 
who  w^as  able  to  get  his  mouth  into 
a  pucker  began  to  whistle  "Yankee 
Doodle,"  just  as  the  procession 
started  and  kept  it  up  with  more  or 
less  zeal  till  we  reached  the  levee. 
'J'he  city  was  all  stirred  up  over  it; 
the  rebel  portion  was  in  great  glee 
over  what  they  were  pleased  to 
term  "the  dishonor  of  the  Yan- 
kees," while  the  loyal  people  made 
light  of  it.  Windows  were  raised 
on  both  sides  of  the  streets,  doors 
were  thrown  open  and  men,  women 
and  children  waved  little  flaglets, 
fluttered  their  handkerchiefs  and 
laughed  and  cheered  and  whistled 
v.-itn  us,  and  did  everything  they 
could  to  cheer  us  up;  for  we  had 
acquired    a    popularity    in    St.    Louis 


(;8 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


and  had  made  many  friends  there. 
It  was  an  unjust  punishment,  but 
the  disgrace  of  it  was  soon  to  be 
wiped  out  by  what  historians  desig- 
nate as  one  of  the  brightest  and 
bravest  achievements  to  be  found 
anywhere   in    the   annals   of   war. 

The  year  18  61  had  not  on  the 
whole  been  favorable  to  the  Union 
arms,  the  war  had  not  been  skill- 
fully conducted.  McClellan  in  west- 
ern Virginia  had  gained  some  repu- 
tation, Grant  had  gained  a  victory 
and  nearly  lost  it  at  Belmont,  Butler 
had  achieved  success  in  Hatteras 
Inlet,  Dupont  had  won  Port  Royal 
and  some  other  things  that  had  kept 
tue  national  heart  from  absolute 
despondency,  but  taken  together  the 
results  were  against  us.  But  the 
splendid  campaigns  in  the  west  in 
1862  more  than  atoned  for  all  that 
had  been  lacking  in  '61.  The  first 
of  these  great  victories  and  one  of 
the  most  inspiring  of  the  whole  war 
w^as  won  on  the  west  bank  of  the 
Cumberland  river  on  the  13th,  14th 
and  15th  of  Feb.  1862.  Gen  Grant 
had  left  Fort  Henry  on  the  Ten- 
nessee on  the  12th,  with  a  force  of 
about  15,000  men.  On  the  morning 
of  the  14th  Lew  Wallace  joined  him 
Wiu..  2,500  more  and  at  the  same 
time  Gen.  Thayer  of  Nebraska  was 
steaming  up  the  Cumberland  with 
six  other  regiments,  all  under  con- 
voy of  the  Ironclads,  St.  Louis, 
Louisville  and  Pittsburg  and  of  the 
wooden  boats  Tyler  and  Conestoga, 
making  a  total  of  27,000  men  all 
told. 

The  Cumberland  river  runs  north 
instead  of  south  and  empties  into 
the  Ohio  above  Paducah,  Ky.  It 
was  a  spirited  scene  that  trip  up 
the  Cumberland,  full  of  life  and 
stir  and  energy,  the  iron  gunboats, 
the    loaded     transports,      the      little 


Government  Dispatch  boats,  but  a 
little  larger  than  one  of  those  pretty 
electric  launches  on  the  lagoon,  with 
their  thin  piping  whistles  they  made 
a  queer  contract  to  the  hoarse  fog- 
horn blows  of  the  larger  craft;  it 
was  a  panorama  of  beauty  of  thrilling 
interest  to  all  who  understood  the 
grim  import  of  the  trip.  We  were 
on  the  way  to  Fort  Donelson,  which 
we  understood^  to  be  one  of  the 
strongholds  of  the  enemy  in  the 
west.  I  think  nearly  all  were  anx- 
ious to  get  there  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible, the  easy  capture  of  Fort 
Henry  caused  us  to  fear  that  a  like 
result  might  be  reached  at  Donelson 
before  we  could  get  there  to  have 
a  hand  in  it.  Indeed,  most  of  our 
boys  seemed  to  be  in  much  the  same 
frame  of  mind  as  was  a  member  of 
the  Twelfth  Iowa,  of  whom  the  late 
Capt.  E.  I.  Weiser  of  the  Third 
Iowa  once  told  me.  The  Twelfih 
man  was  overheard  by  a  comrade 
just  on  the  eve  of  the  battle,  pray- 
ing with  great  apparent  fervency, 
that  the  enemy  might  give  them  "a 
stout  fight."  It  is  needless  to  say 
that  his  prayer  was  fully  answered. 
The  Captain  of  the  boat  on  which 
we  were  being  carried  to  the  Fort 
was  a  rank  rebel  sympathizer, 
whose  affinities  came  to  the  surface 
at  a  time  when  the  troops  were  in 
no  mood  to  condone  them.  On  some 
pretext  he  permitted  the  steam  to 
run  low,  unnoticed  by  the  officers  of 
the  regiment,  and  when  his  atten- 
tion was  called  to  it,  he  began  to 
make  excuses,  saying  that  the  fuel 
was  nearly  gone  and  wood  was  hard 
to  get,  though  we  had  passed  sev- 
eral wood  piles  on  the  river  banks. 
Col.  Tuttle  said  very  little;  he  had 
noticed  a  large  pile  a  short  dis- 
tance ahead  of  us,  so  he  quietly 
drew    his    revolver    and    pointing    it 


THK   SIMPLE   \AFK  OF  A   COMMONER 


m 


at  the  head  of  the  Capiain,  imiiiir- 
ed  of  him;  "Do  you  see  that  pile 
of  wood  yonder  on  the  right  bank 
of  the  river?  \v  ell,  you  get  to  that 
wood  and  have  it  on  board  in  short 
order  or  your  carcass  feeds  the 
fishes  in  this  river."  We  were  soon 
at  the  wood  pile  and  the  deck  hands 
and  roustabouts  had  the  help  of  all 
the  soldiers  that  could  he  used  to 
advantage  in  getting  it  aboard,  and 
we  had  no  further  trouble  after 
that. 

Fort  Donelson  was  a  formidable 
basticned  work,  well  calculated  for 
a  defensive  position,  built  on  a  hill 
about  100  feet  above  the  waters  of 
the  Cumberland  and  containing 
nearly  a  hundred  acres  of  land,  lo- 
cated on  the  west  bank  of  the  river. 
On  the  south  there  is  a  small  stream 
called  Indian  Creek,  which  was  fill- 
ed and  overflowing  with  back  water 
from  the  river:  between  Indian 
creek  and  Dover  a  little  town  near 
the  Fort,  there  is  now  a  national 
cemetery  containing  a  large  number 
of  Union  and  Confederate  graves. 
To  the  north  there  is  another  stream 
called  Hickman's  creek,  which  was 
also  filled  with  back  water.  The 
ground  was  very  rough,  broken  and 
full  of  deep  crevices  or  fissures,  it 
was  nearly  all  covered  with  trees 
which  had  been  cut  down  so  that 
the  tops  lay  outward  from  the 
works  and  facing  the  Union  army, 
the  limbs  had  been  trimmed 
and  sharpened  to  a  point,  foi'ming 
a  very  dangerous  abattis  over  which 
it  was  necessary  to  charge  to  reach 
the  intrenchments  which  extended 
along  a  ridge  about  two  miles  long 
and  back  from  the  river.  The  fort 
was  garrisoned  l)y  about  1^1,000 
men  under  command  of  Floyd, 
Pillow,  Johnson,  Buckner  and 
Forrest.      fJranfs   army    was    divided 


into  tiiree  divisions.  The  firsi  un- 
dei-  .McClernand,  occupying  out- 
right, the  second  under  J^ew  Wal- 
lace, holding  the  center,  and  the 
left  under  C.  F.  Smith.  The  army 
was  made  up  of  western  men,  chief- 
ly from  Illinois,  Ohio,  Indiana  and 
Iowa  with  one  regiment  from 
Nebraska  and  one  from  Missouri. 
In  one  particular  Fort  Donelson  was 
unlike  almost  all  the  other  great 
battles  of  the  war,  four  states  fur- 
nished nearly  all  the  troops.  To 
illustrate  the  heterogeneity  of  the 
Union  army  the  composition  of  my 
own  company  will  serve  as  a  sample 
of  the  whole,  we  had  nineteen  dif- 
ferent states  and  nationalities  In   it. 

The  Second  Iowa  which  had  dis- 
embarked from  the  steamer  McGill 
about  three  miles  below  the  fort 
was  assigned  to  Lauman's  brigade 
of  Smith's  division  and  occupied  the 
extreme  left  of  the  Union  line.  The 
other  regiments  in  the  brigade  were 
the  Seventh  and  Fourteenth  Iowa, 
the  Twenty-fifth  and  Fifty-second 
Indiana  and  Blrges'  sharpshooters. 
A  short  distance  In  the  rear  of  the 
brigade  was  Mrs.  Crisp's  house,  a 
one  story  log  structure  with  an  ad- 
dition on  one  side,  and  a  stone 
chimney    on    the      other.  It       was 

Grant's    headquarters. 

On  the  13th  there  had  been  some 
heavy  skirmishing  all  along  the  line. 
The  Illinois  boys  on  the  right  had 
a  hard  time  getting  the  line  of  In- 
vestment complete.  About  three  in 
the  afternoon,  Foote's  gunboats 
steamed  up  the  river  and  engaged 
the  water  batteries.  We  heard  the 
firing  and  It  was  music  in  our  ears. 
Our  expectations  were  high;  we  re- 
membered Fort  Henry  and  the  splen- 
did work  done  there,  but  we  were 
doomed  to  disappointment,  for  one 
after    another    the      gunboats       were 


ill 


PHE   S5MPT.E  LIFE  OF  A   COMMONER 


disabled  and  di'opped  down  out  of 
range.  Flag  Officer  Foote  was 
wounded  and  the  rebels  were  jubil- 
ant. It  was  a  bitter  disappointment 
to  us;  we  had  expected  so  much  and 
our  hopes  were  suddenly  and  cruel- 
ly dashed  to  the  ground.  The  boys 
were  filled  with  gloom,  iand  they 
began  to  magnify  the  strength  and 
numbers  of  the  enemy.  Some  blam- 
ed Grant,  some  Halleck,  some  Foote, 
nearly  all  praised  the  Confederate 
officers  and  everybody  wondered 
what  was  to  come  next.  In  the 
me?jntime  it  had  grown  intensely 
cold,  it  was  raining,  sleeting  and 
freezing,  we  had  no  tents,  no  shel- 
ter of  any  sort,  not  even  a  tree:  we 
had  no  blankets,  no  overcoats,  it 
was  a  fearful  night,  and  we  were 
terribly  exposed.  God  in  heaven 
only  knows  how  some  of  those  poor 
fellows  suffered  that  awful  night: 
a  few  froze  to  death,  some  contract- 
ed ailments  from  which  they  died 
before  they  left  the  fort,  others  died 
in  the  hospital  a  few  months  later, 
and  some  are  carrying  the  effects 
of  that  exposure  to  this  day,  and 
will  carry  them  to  their  graves.  We 
were  not  allowed  to  have  any  fires, 
because  that  would  draw  the  fire  of 
the  enemy's  guns,  which  were  but 
a  short  distance  from  us,  and  in 
full  range. 

During  that  night  a  council  was 
held  between  Pillow,  Floyd  and 
Buckner,  which  resulted  in  a  deter- 
mination to  make  a  sortie  in  the 
morning  and  cut  their  way  out  and 
get  away  by  Wynn's  Ferry  to  Char- 
lotte. So  in  the  morning  just  at 
daybreak,  before  our  fellows  had 
time  to  get  into  line,  the  enemy 
came  pouring  down  on  our  extreme 
right  and  struck  Oglesby"s  brigade 
of  :\IcClernand's  division.  The  bat- 
tle   swung    on    till    it    reached    Wal- 


lace in  the  center.  .McClernand's 
men  were  rolled  up  in  a  mass.  The 
Eighteenth  Illinois  lost  4  4  killed 
and  170  wounded:  the  others  suf- 
fered much,  their  ammunition  gave 
out,  for  in  the  early  days  of  the 
war  neither  side  seemed  to  take  in 
all  the  necessities  of  the  case,  and 
contingencies  were  not  provided  for 
as  they   were   later  on. 

When  it  looked  as  though  all  was 
lost.  Pillow  w^as  greatly  elated.  He 
was  a  very  vain  man,  and  he  thought 
he  had  Grant's  whole  army  before 
him:  so  he  sent  a  telegram  to  Syd- 
ney .Johnson,  commander  of  the 
Confederate  forces  in  the  west:  "On 
the  honor  of  a  soldier  the  day  is 
ours."  .Johnson  sent  it  to  Richmond 
and  it  created  great  enthusiasm 
there,  but  it  was  a  mistake,  the 
day  was  not  won  by  any  means, 
but  it  might  have  been;  Napoleon 
would  have  won  it,  so  would  Well- 
ington, so  would  Grant,  so  would 
Buckner.  But  Pillow  was  vascillat- 
ing  just  when  it  required  nerve,  and 
decision  of  character,  and  the  day 
was  lost  to  the  Confederates  and  aU 
went    with    it. 

When  Grant  found  his  men  in  re- 
treat he  simply  said:  "Gentlemen," 
addressing  himself  to  Wallace  and 
McClernand,  "the  posit. on  on  the 
right  must  be  re-taken."  That  was 
all,  a.nd  then  he  galloped  away.  The 
lines  on  the  right  were  reformed 
and  preparations  were  made  for  a 
new  investment  of  the  enemy's 
works.  Grant  said  to  Webster,  his 
chief  of  staff,  "some  of  our  men  are 
pretty  badly  demoralized,  but  the 
enemy  must  be  more  so,  for  he  has 
attempted  to  force  his  way  out  but 
has  fallen  back;  the  one  who  at- 
tacks first  now  will  be  victorious 
and  the  enemy  will  have  to  be  in 
a    hurry    if    he    gets    ahead    of    me." 


THH   SLMl'lJ']    l.lFl^]  OF  A  CQ.M.MONRR 


Then  he  directed  Col.  \Vel)ster  to 
ride  by  his  side  and  call  oul  lo  the 
men  as  they  passed:  "Fill  your  car- 
tridge boxes  quick  and  get  into  line, 
the  enemy  is  trying  to  escape  and 
he  must  not  be  permitted  to  do  so." 
And  that  did  the  business,  it  acted 
like  a  charm,  the  enemy  was  forced 
back  into  his  works,,  never  to  leave 
I  hem  again  except  as  prisoners  of 
war. 

At  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon 
General  Smith  received  orders  to 
charge  the  works  in  his  front,  and 
he  selected  Lauman's  brigade  to 
Itad.  It  was  a  forlorn  hope  for 
Colonel  Shaw  of  the  Fourteenth 
lou-a,  tcld  me  that  General  Smith  had 
no  thought  of  carrying  the  works; 
it  was  designed  on  the  part  of  Grant 
only  as  a  feint  till  the  right  could 
be  reinvested.  But  something  must 
be  done  and  that  right  (luick,  so 
General  Smith  said  to  Colonel  Tat- 
tle: "You  are  to  assail  yonder  rifle 
pits,  can  1  depend  on  you?"  "Sup- 
port me  promptly  General,"  said  Tut- 
tle,  "and  in  twenty  minutes  I'll  go 
in."  Twenty  minutes  was  the  exact 
time  it  took  Marshall  Soult  to  climb 
the  Pratzen  slope  at  Austerlitz  and 
tiercely  tight  the  column  of  Kallo- 
rath.  Twenty  minutes,  the  destin- 
ies of  kingdoms  and  empires  have 
been  decided  in  less  time  than  that. 
Twenty  minutes  at  Waterloo  meant 
(vei-ything  to  Wellington.  Twenty 
minutes  in  a  man's  lifetime  may  not 
mean  much,  but  twenty  minutes  on 
the  field  of  battle  means  everything. 
\\'ell,  the  column  is  leady,  the  line 
is  formed  at  a  considerable  distance 
from  the  rifle  pits,  the  Second  Iowa 
;is  in  front,  divided  into  two  equal 
parts,  the  left  five  companies  lead- 
ing, the  right  wing  following  one 
hundred  and  fifty  yards  behind,  then 
comes    the   Fifty-second    Indiana,    the 


Twenty-fifth  Indiana  and  th(^  Four- 
teenth and  Seventh  Iowa,  while 
Birge's  sharpshooters  are  deployed 
on  our  flanks  as  skirmishers  and 
right  well  they  did  the  business,  ev- 
ery man  of  them  was  a  preferred 
marksman;  they  had  learned  how  to 
draw  a  bead  on  the  prairies  and  in 
the  woods  of  the  wild  and  wooly 
west,  they  knew  just  how  to  bark  a 
squirrel,  which  required  fine  marks- 
manship. They  were  armed  with 
long,  globe-sighted  Henry  rifles,  and 
dressed  in  clothes  neither  blue  nor 
gray,  nor  butternut  exactly,  but  a 
kind  of  mixture  between  them  all, 
so  they  were  not  easily  distinguish- 
ed from  surrounding  objects.  They 
all  wore  coon  skin  caps  witli  the 
tail,  like  Grimes'  coat,  "all  hanging 
down  behind."  They  never  maneu- 
vered as  a  corps,  though  some  of 
them  figui-ed  as  a  corpse;  every  man 
fought  on  his  own  hook,  when  the 
time  for  action  came  it  was  "can- 
teens full,  biscuits  for  all  day,  all 
right,  hunt  your  holes,"  and  away 
they  went  like  so  many  Indians. 
They  hid  behind  rocks  and  stumps, 
they  crawled  into  hollows,  they 
climbed  into  trees  and  stretched 
themselves  out  along  the  limbs,  and 
in  that  way  they  did  us  some  royal 
service,  for  they  made  it  very  in- 
teresting for  the  men  that  worked 
the  batteries  on  the  other  side. 

Gen.  Smith  leads  the  column  out 
to  a  point  where  it  debouches  in  full 
view  of  the  enemy  and  in  easy 
range  of  his  musketry;  yonder  are 
the  rebel  works  full  five  hundred 
yards  away.  There  is  a  deep  ditch 
on  the  inside,  on  the  outside  of  it 
the  works  are  thrown  up  forming 
an  embankment,  behind  w-hich  the 
defence  conceals  himself  while  he 
shoots  at  the  prosecution.  There  are 
openings  in  the  earth  works,  through 


Ill-:   SI.MPIJO    LIFE   OF  A   CO.M.MONFR 


whifh    Uie    artillery    pours    Its    grape 
and  caniiister  and  shot  and  shell  and 
hell.     All  the  hillside  is  covered  with 
the    abattis    already    leferred    to,    so 
dense  that   a   rabbit    would   be   both- 
ered  to  get  through   it.      The   line  is 
formed,      the      officers      draw      their 
swords,    the    men    grasp    their    mus- 
kets  with   a   firmer  grip. 
Those    old   Belgian   muskets, 
Those   smooth    bore    muskets. 
Those    time-honored    muskets, 
Those  rust  covered  muskets, 
We  shot  with  that  day. 

Now  the  word  is  spoken,  men 
look  into  each  others  faces,  just  -for 
an  instant,  some  are  pale,  some  are 
flushed,  some  look  wildly  on  before 
them,  many  a  silent  prayer  goes  up 
to  God  for  protection  and  for  suc- 
cess, but  never  an  oath  is  uttered, 
no,  no,  eternity  lies  just  over  the 
brow  of  that  hill  there,  while  death 
lurks  along  its  sides.  It  may  be  you, 
it  may  be  me,  God  save  us.  The 
word  is  spoken,  the  column  moves, 
full  of  grim  determination  and  not 
without  fear.  A  horse  might  be 
free  from  fear  at  such  a  time,  so 
might  a  pig  or  an  ox,  but  seldom  a 
man.  Side  by  side  the  men  push 
on,  they  jostle  each  other,  the  fal- 
len trees  are  in  the  way,  the  sharp 
pointed  limbs  are  dangerous  hind- 
rances, but  the  line  is  well  preserv- 
ed, not  a  word  is  spoken,  not  a  gun 
is  fired  on  our  side.  Silent  as  the 
grav(>  and  inexorable  as  death  the 
boys  move  on.  Ping,  ping,  ping, 
bang,  ping,  ping,  ping,  ping,  bang, 
bang — ^whiz,  bang,  bang,  bullets 
and  grape,  shot  and  shell,  whistling, 
screeching,  screaming  away  on  their 
mission  of  death,  but  no  man  speaks, 
no  man  halts,  the  column  moves  on. 
Sergeant  Doty  is  down,  never  to  rise 
again  till  God's  resurrection  call 
shall  awaken  him  from  sleep.  Oth- 
ers   are    falling    in    quick    succession. 


some  drop  dead,  shot  through  the 
heart,  through  the  head,  mangled  by 
grape  and  torn  by  shell.  Some  are 
only  wounded:  they  lie  still  where 
they  have  fallen.  Some  manage  to 
hobble  away  to  the  rear,  some  seek 
a  place  where  they  may  find  shelter 
and  care  for  their  wounds,  but  they 
are  killed  before  they  can  find  it. 
Not  a  groan  is  heard  nor  a  cry;  they 
suffer  in  silence  that  they  may  not 
dishearten  their  comrades:  they  die 
like  soldiers.  There  is  no  halt,  no 
liesilancy,  no,  not  for  an  instant. 
Like  lions  stealing  on  their  prey  the 
left  wing,  and  then  the  right  wing 
climb  the  steeps.  Captain  Cloutman 
of  Ottumwa  drops  dead  with  a  bul- 
let in  his  brain:  twenty  paces  furth- 
er on  Slaymaker  of  Davenport  is 
instantly  killed:  so  is  Ueutenant 
Harper,  so  are  forty  others.  Tuttle 
is  wounded:  so  is  Major  Chipman: 
so  are  one  hundred  and  fifty-seven 
others,  some  of  them  unto  death. 
Blood  is  streaming  fi'om  their  faces, 
bursting  from  their  breasts,  getting 
down  into  their  shoes,  reddening  the 
trampled  snow  at  their  feet.  Arms 
drop  lifeless  at  the  side  of  the  body, 
limbs  are  torn  away  in  an  instant. 
A  cannon  ball  bears  a  head  away 
and  leaves  a  lifeless  trunk  behind. 
But  now  the  rebels  are  flying,  the 
works  are  taken  at  the  point  of  the 
bayonet:  our  men  leap  the  trenches 
with  a  shout  of  victory,  bayoneting 
all  that  linger  a  moment  behind,  and 
now  for  the  first  time  Tuttle's  voice 
rings    out    clear    and    strong,    "Give 

them    boys,"    and     some     one 

writing  of  it  afterwards  said:  "If 
ever  mortals  inflicted  the  torments 
of  the  damned  upon  the  denizens 
of  earth,  it  was  then  and  there  in 
obedience  to  that  command."  Colo- 
nel Hanson  and  his  Tennesseeans 
made  a  splendid   fight   of  it   but  they 


THE   SIMPI-.K   LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


were  swept  away  like  chaff  from  a 
threshing  floor,  and  Donelson  was 
ours. 

Mr.  Charles  Boynton,  an  Iowa  poet 
sought  to  imortalize  the  charge  of 
the  Second  Iowa  in  a  poem  of  many 
stanzas,  from  which  I  have  taken 
I  lie  liberty  to  select  the  following 
lines: 

■■The   rebel   flag  o'er   Henry  waves 
For  but  an  hour,  and  o"er  the  graves 
Of  traitors  pass  the  victorious  bands, 
Till  Cumberland  break?  on  the  sight 
And  Donelson  in  waiting  stands 
Astride   its   rampart    crowned   height. 

Where  are  the  Winklerieds  that  now 
Will    scale     the       tempest       crowned 

brow. 
Will  raise  again  the  inspiring  cry — 
•■.Make    way    for    Liberty,"    and    high 
Upon  the  uprising  shaft  of  fame 
With    him     record     their      deathless 

names. 

Behold       them       here,       the      Alpine 

heights 
Ne'er  nursed  a  bravei',  bolder  stock. 
Than      now      as      Freedom's      chosen 

knights 
Spring     forth     to     meet     the     battle 

shock; 
Up  the  steep  hillside,  on  they  press; 
No  faltering  in  their  steps  is  seen. 
Among   their   ranks    each    gleam    the 

less 
From  out  the  bright  and  starry  sheen 
Of    bayonets    glittering   in    the    light, 
Marks    where    the    eternal    morn    has 

risen 
To    greet    the    spirit    of    one    whose 

night 
On  earth  has  closed;  whose  flesh  bar- 
red  prison 
Has  ope'd  its  door  and  let  the  soul 
Pass  upward  to  its  destined  goal. 

Onward   they  press,    the   fiery  tide 
That  meets  their  front   lays   low  the 

pride 
Of    many    a    hearth:    still     on     they 

sweep. 
Till   on   the  strong   embattled   steep 
They    meet    the    foe,    and     hand     to 

hand. 


In      tierce      and      desperate      conflict 

stand. 
Then     o'er    the      oi)posing     ramparts 

leap; 
No     earthly     power      can      backward 

keep. 
The  immortal  band   that  dare 
To  plant   the  starry   banner  there." 

The  rebels  fell  back  to  an  inter- 
ior line  of  rifle  pits  and  we  held  the 
works   we   had   taken. 

Speaking  of  the  part  played  by 
the  private  soldier  in  the  War  of 
the  Rebellion,  a  distinguished  orator 
has  said:  "We  may  not  forget  that 
many  an  humble  individual  inspired 
by  a  purpose  pure  and  noble,  has 
striven  manfully  against  great  odds 
and  without  hope  of  other  reward 
than  that  of  an  approving  consci- 
ence. It  is  only  in  the  seclusion  of 
the  family  circle  or  in  the  hearts 
of  a  few  firm  friends  that  these 
humble  individuals  receive  the  hom- 
age which  is  their  due  and  the  tri- 
bute of  love  which  gratitude  alone 
can  give.  For  all  time  the  projec- 
tors of  great  things,  the  leaders  and 
prominent  actoi*s  of  the  world  have 
received  the  homage  of  their  fellow- 
men;  their  lives  have  been  filled 
with  the  fragrance  of  their  own  good 
deeds  and  of  the  emoluments  and 
honors  which  have  been  showered 
upon  them."  It  is  the  custom  when 
persons  who  have  rendered  great 
public  services  yield  up  their  lives, 
to  accord  to  them  every  meed  of 
praise  their  services  merit,  and 
when  men  and  women  have  towered 
above  their  fellows  in  bravery, 
charity  and  sacrifice  pass  away,  an 
appreciative  people  are  swift  to  rec- 
ognize their  worth  and  to  pour  out 
libations  of  love.  In  the  halls  of 
legislation  their  achievements  are 
rehearsed  by  eloquent  tongues, 
panegyrics  are  pronounced  from  pul- 
pit   and    platform,    in    the    parlors   of 


74 


TIIIO   SIMPLE   lAFK  OF  A  CO.M.MOXER 


the  wealthy,  by  the  fireside  of  the 
lowly,  in  homely  phrase,  the  com- 
mon people  talk  of  the  distinguished 
dead  and  tell  to  each  other  the 
story  of  their  lives.  Stately  and 
costly  funeral  trains  convey  the  em- 
balmed body  and  richly  draped  cas- 
ket with  all  its  elaborate  adorn- 
ments to  the  beautiful  mausoleum 
which  awaits  its  reception.  Great 
cities  contend  with  each  other  for 
the  honor  of  providing  a  burial 
place  for  their  bodies,  costly  monu- 
ments are  erected  to  their  memory 
and  their  tombs  become  the  shrines 
of  a  grateful  people.  History  has 
gieat  things  to  say  of  Moses,  Alex- 
ander, Marlborough  and  Frederick, 
who  is  called  "The  Great,"  of  Na- 
poleon and  Wellington  the  "Iron 
Duke." 

I  once  saw  a  nol)le  monument  in 
the  heart  of  London,  erected  in 
memory  of  England's  great  naval 
hero  Lord  Nelson.  I  have  stood  at 
the  base  of  another,  in  the  capital  of 
our  own  country,  erected  in  honor  of 
the  father  of  his  country.  I  have 
gazed  in  wonder  upon  the  splendid 
Egyptian  obelisk  in  Central  park, 
called  Cleopatra's  needle,  with  its 
vertical  lines  of  incused  hierogly- 
phics, a  shaft  of  enduring  substance 
Which  has  defied  the  ravages  of  time 
and  beat  back  the  storms  of  cen- 
turies, a  noble  tribute  to  the  genius 
of  a  once  great  people.  It  has  been 
my  privilege  to  stand  beside  magni- 
ficent statutes  of  Jackson,  Lincoln 
and  Grant,  shafts  of  fame  worthily 
put  up  by  their  fellow  citizens,  but 
I  think  the  most  significent  and  com- 
prehensive of  all  that  I  have  ever 
seen  is  that  which  came  to  us  from 
France,  which  looks  upward  and  out- 
ward from  New  York  harbor,  "Lib- 
erty enlightening  the  world."  It 
stands   for   a    great    world-wide   prin- 


ciple, and  grandly  represents  the 
common,  soldier  of  the  Revolution 
and  the  Rebellion,  by  whose  prowess 
tlie  seeds  of  liberty  were  planted, 
to  be  plucked  when  they  shall  have 
developed  into  ripened  fruit  upon 
every  i)art  of  this  American  contin- 
ent. 

It  is  not  easy  to  refer  to  one's 
own  experiences  in  the  war  with  that 
freedom  which  is  nece.ssary  to  a 
clear  statement  of  the  different  sit- 
uations in  which  you  are  placed  and 
your  personal  relation  to  conditions 
and  results,  without  an  appearance 
of  egotism,  which,  though  far  from 
existing  in  fact,  nevertheless  is  lia- 
ble to  create  an  impression  in  the 
mind  of  the  reader  prejudicial  to 
the   modesty   of   the   writer. 

I  have  ever  before  me  as  I  set 
down  these  things  the  question  of 
that  little  girl,  whose  father  was 
speaking  with  great  fluency  of  the 
part  he  had  taken  in  the  struggle, 
utterly  unaware  of  the  impression 
he  was  making:  "Father,  couldn't 
you  get  anyone  to  help  you  put  down 
the  rebellion?"  However,  as  these 
records  are  intended  for  family  peru- 
sal rather  than  for  the  general  read- 
er, I  am  encouraged  to  believe  my 
loved  ones  will  be  inclined  to  con- 
done any  apparent  outcropping  in 
this  direction,  and  look  with  lenien- 
cy upon  what  may  be  said  of  my  own 
personal    part    in    the    great    conflict. 

Just  as  we  were  passing  over  the 
rifle  pits  of  the  enemy,  I  felt  some- 
thing strike  my  right  leg  as  though 
I  had  been  hit  with  a  switch  or  car- 
riage whip;  no  great  harm  was  done 
however,  as  it  was  merely  a  musket 
ball  wliich  had  passed  through  my 
trousers,  making  a  rent  which  was 
easily  repaired.  Immediately  after 
that  five  of  us  became  separated 
from   the   regiment;    we   had   not    un- 


THE   SI.Ml'LK    LIFK  OF  A  f'OM.MONKR 


rkrstood  the  orders,  which  were  to 
hold  the  line  of  intrenchnients  we 
had  faptured  and  remain  there.  So 
it  fame  to  pass  that  we  five,  W.  I^. 
.Tcurney,  Thomas  Paine,  Joseph  Con- 
way, C.  H.  Reeder  and  myself  had 
unwittingly  exposed  ourselves  to  a 
deadly  fire  from  the  point  to  which 
the  enemy  had  retired.  In  less  time 
than  it  requires  to  speak  of  it, 
Thomas  Paine  had  received  a  wound 
from  which  he  died  soon  after  the 
battle.  Conway  and  Reeder  escaped 
unhurt,  but  Journey,  who  was  the 
Orderly  Sergeant  cf  the  company, 
was  struck  on  the  breast  by  a  mus- 
ket ball  which  though  it  did  not 
cause  instant  death  would  probably 
have  proven  mortal  had  not  his 
death  been  caused  a  few  moments 
later.  As  it  was  the  moment  he  was 
hit  he  said  to  me:  "Harry,  I'm 
shot,"  and  dropping  his  gun  he  stag- 
gered backward,  falling  into  my 
arms.  Near  where  we  were  standing 
there  was  a  tent  which  had  been  oc- 
cupied by  some  rebel  officers,  and 
close  to  the  side  next  to  our  lines 
there  was  a  trunk  which  had  been 
left  by  them  in  their  haste  to  get 
away.  When  Journey  fell  I  caught 
him  and  led  him  with  as  little  pain 
as  possible  behind  the  tent,  thinking 
we  would  be  out  of  sight  of  the 
enemy,  and  in  less  danger  on  that 
account.  AlasI  I  fear  it  was  only 
another  instance  of  the  ostrich  hid- 
ing his  head  in  the  sand.  We  were 
either  seen  or  they  knew  just  where 
we  were.  I  had  laid  my  arm  on 
the  trunk  with  Journey's  head  rest- 
ing on  it  while  he  was  stretched  on 
the  ground  and  was  giving  him  a 
drink  of  water  from  my  canteen, 
when  one  of  the  many  bullets  with 
which  the  enemy  was  riddling  the 
tent,  cut  my  coat  sleeve  and  enter- 
ing   the    brain    of    my     comrade      in- 


stantly jellied  him.  I  drew  my  arm 
out  from  under  him  and  as  speedily 
as  possible  made  my  way  back  to 
our  lines.  Upon  examining  my  cloth- 
ing after  the  battle  I  was  not  a  lit- 
tle surprised  to  find  no  less  than 
nine  bullet  holes  in  them,  one  of 
which  had  gone  through  my  cap. 
It  has  always  seemed  to  me  that 
there  was  a  great  deal  more  suff- 
ering and  a  greater  loss  of  life  in 
that  battle  than  was  necessary.  No 
arrangements  seem  to  have  been 
agreed  on  for  the  removal  of  the 
wounded  who  were  unable  of  them- 
selves to  leave  the  battlefield.  To 
my  certain  knowledge  some  of  the 
wounded  who  happened  to  fall  be- 
tween the  lines  were  left  on  the 
field  all  night  in  the  frost  and  snow: 
a  cruelty  which  would  not  have  been 
permitted  a  few  months  later.  Ed- 
ward Banks,  a  private  of  Company  I 
was  seriously  wounded  by  a  cannon 
ball  which  had  torn  across  his  abdo- 
men, exposing  his  bowels.  So  fright- 
ful a  wound  would  probably  have 
been  mortal  even  with  the  best  of 
care,  nevertheless  there  might  have 
been  a  chance  to  save  him,  if  he 
had  been  properly  cared  for.  As  it 
was  he  was  left  on  the  field  all  night 
lying  within  the  lines  of  the  enemy. 
His  brother  Henry  and  I  visited  him 
three  times  during  that  long  night, 
making  him  as  comfortable  as  pos- 
sible. On  our  third  visit  the  rebel 
guard,  who  seemed  to  be  a  kind 
hearted  fellow  said  to  us:  "Now 
boys,  this  is  the  third  time  you  have 
been  inside  our  lines  tonight,  and 
it  must  be  the  last.  You  will  have 
to  do  the  best  you  can  for  your 
comrade  and  then  leave  him  till 
morning;  it  is  too  bad  but  I  can't 
help  it,  these  are  my  orders."  So 
we  did  all  we  could  for  the  poor  boy 
and   then    left   him.      In   the   morning 


Tin-]  snFPLE  [.iFE  OF  A  co.m:\ioner 


he  was  dead.  Perhaps  his  wound 
was  too  grievious-  to  admit  of  his 
reiDOval  and  perhaps  the  surgeons 
were  all  too  busy  with  other  cases 
to  give  him  attention.  1  know  not. 
Following  is  a  specimen  of  a  let- 
ter written  just  after  the  battle,  with 
the  response  that  followed  four  days 
later: 

Hospital,    Feb.    ISth,    1862. 
I    write    with    a    great    deal    of    pain, 

dear   girl, 
I've    not   been    able    before    since   the 

fight, 
And   my   brain    is   si  ill   so   much   in   a 

whirl. 
That    1    can    tell    you    but     little     to- 
night. 
I'm    wounded — don't    start,    'tis    not 

very    bad. 
Or   at   least   it    might    be   worse,   so   T 

said, 
When    I    thought     of    you,    I'm    sure 

she'll  be  glad, 
To  know  that  I'm  only  wounded,  not 

dead. 

Sweet   Home,   Feb.   2  2,    1862. 
I  read  your  name  in  the  terrible  list. 
But  the  tears  froze  back  that  sprang 

to   my  eyes. 
And  a  fearful  pain  that   I   could  not 

resist 
Crushed   my  heart   till   I   only   longed 

to  die; 
The  blessed  tears  bye  and  bye  came 

again, 
And    I    felt    as    you    in     your     letter 

said, 
A    feeling    of    gladness    'mid    all    my 

pain. 
That   Robert    was  only  wounded,   not 

dead. 
That  night  an  important  Confed- 
erate council  was  held  inside  the 
works,  at  which  it  was  agreed  to 
surrender  the  fort.  Floyd,  who  was 
in  command  said,  that  under  the  cir- 
cumstances he  would  turn  over  the 
command  to  General  Pillow,  who 
said  that  there  were  no  two  men  in 
the'  Confederacy  the  Yanks  would 
rather  capture  than  himself  and 
Ceneral    Floyd,    so    they     turned      it 


over  to  Buckner,  who  was  a  real 
soldier  and  a  gentleman.  Pillow 
was  afraid  of  his  neck  and  so  was 
Floyd,  who  at  the  outbreak  of  the 
rebellion  was  Buchanan's  Secretary 
of  War,  and  he  had  so  scattered 
the  little  army  of  the  United  States 
that  it  vvas  distributed  all  C)ver  the 
(^■ountry.  He  had  taken  the  arms 
and  munitions  of  war  from  the 
North  and  placed  them  in  the  forts 
and  arsenals  of  the  South.  Indeed 
he  had  done  everything  that  he 
could  while  still  a  member  of  Presi- 
dent Buchanan's  cabinet  to  deplete 
and  ruin  the  North  and  build  up 
the  South.  And  so  the  change  was 
made,  and  then  and  there  the  trai- 
tcr  Floyd  ended  his  infamous  ca- 
reei-  of  thievery,  treachery  and 
cowardice,  by  stealing  himself  away 
in  the  night  with  ,'5,000  men,  and 
Pillow  went  with  him  with  more 
men,  while  Forrest  with  1,000  cav- 
alry floundered  his  way  out  through 
the  mud  and  backwater  and  da>rk- 
ness   to   Nashville. 

On  the  following  morning  after 
the  Confederate  council  was  held, 
we  were  drawn  up  in  line  of  battle 
for  another  advance,  a  prospect 
which,  considering  the  carnage  of 
the  day  before,  was  very  depressing; 
but  there  was  no  desire  to  shirk  so 
far  as  covild  be  noticed;  every  man 
appeared  to  be  ready  to  move  should 
the  word  be  given  to  advance.  Hap- 
pily, however,  we  were  saved  from 
any  further  fighting  in  that  battle, 
for  as  the  first  gray  streaks  of  moi'n- 
ing  light  appeared  in  the  east,  a 
bugle  was  sounded  from  the  rebel 
lines,  which,  though  it  was  not  at 
first  understood  by  us,  was  soon 
greeted  with  cheers,  for  it  was  ac- 
companied by  a  white  flag,  the  ap- 
pearance of  which  filled  us  with 
hope.      It   meant   a   parley,   to  say  the 


THH:   SI.MIM.K    \AFK   OF  A   CO.M .MONl^^R 


least,  and  Ihat  niight  result  in  all 
we  were  hoping  for:  and  it  did.  The 
hugle  announced  an  officer  who  was 
carrying  a  letter  from  General  Biick- 
ner  to  General  Grant,  in  which  a 
pioposition  was  made,  suggesting 
the  appointment  of  commissioners 
to  agree  upon  terms  of  capitulation, 
and  at  the  same  time  proposing  an 
ai-mistice  till  neon.  Grant's  reply 
to  that  letter  was  the  first  really 
energetic  war  note  the  country  had 
heard  from  the  field,  and  it  thrilled 
the  whole  land.  It  filled  the  army 
with  new  courage  and  the  count r.r 
with  new  hope.  "No  terms  except 
an  unconditional  and  immediate  sur- 
render can  be  accepted.  I  piopose 
to  move  immedi9,tely  upon  your 
works."  General  Buckner  did  not 
hesitate  to  accept  the  terms  offered, 
indeed,  there  was  nothing  else  left 
for  him  to  do.  So  he  sent  General 
Grant  the  following  reply:  "The 
(list  riljution  of  the  foi'ces  under  my 
command,  incident  to  an  unexpected 
change  of  commanders,  and  the  over- 
whelming force  under  your  com- 
mand, compel  me,  notwithstanding 
the  brilliant  success  of  the  Confed- 
erate arms  yesterday,  to  accept  the 
ungenerous  and  unchivalrous  terms 
you  propose." 

As  the  memory  of  the  events  of 
those  daj's  come  to  me  now,  after 
the  passage  of  nearly  half  a  century, 
1  look  back  to  Sunday,  February 
IGth,  as  one  of  the  proudest  days  of 
my  life:  for  immediately  after  the 
terms  of  surrender  had  been  agreed 
upon  tile  Union  army  proceeded  to 
take  possession  of  the  fort.  I^au- 
man  s  brigade,  with  the  exception  of 
the  Second  Iowa,  was  formed  in  two 
lines  facing  inward,  so  as  to  give 
ample  loom  for  men  to  march  be- 
tween them,  four  abreast:  then  we 
were   formed   at    the   foot   of   the   col- 


umn and  marched  through  the  lines 
to  the  head.  Our  hearts  were  light 
and  so  were  our  steps,  for  we  receiv- 
ed such  recognition  that  day  as  I 
had  never  hoped  or  even  dreamed 
of.  Each  regiment,  as  we  passed  it 
dropped  its  colors  in  salute,  the 
bands  played  and  the  men  cheered 
and  cheered  again.  It  was  a  great 
ovation,  such  as  seldom  comes  into 
the  lives  of  men,  and  we  were  hap- 
py. As  soon  as  we  had  reached  the 
place  of  honor  at  the  head  of  the 
column,  our  own  band  struck  up  the 
"Star  Spangled  Banner"  and  follow- 
ed by  the  entire  army,  entered  and 
quietly  took  possession  of  the  fort. 
The  rebels  who  had  been  disarmed, 
were  standing  around  in  all  sorts  of 
attitudes  gazing  upon  us  with  such 
looks  of  dejection,  as  to  move  us 
with  pity  for  them.  I  am  sure  we 
would  gladly  have  done  anything  in 
reason  to  make  their  lot  less  hu«iil- 
iating.  However,  they  were  fortun- 
ate in  falling  into  the  hands  of  a 
generous  foe,  who  was  not  disposed 
to  deal  unkindly  with  them,  for  af- 
ter all,  were  they  not  our  prodigal 
brothers. 

The  fort  had  surrendered  and  with 
it  a  vast  amount  of  stores,  guns,  am- 
munition and  implements  of  war. 
13,5  00  prisoners  were  turned  over 
to  Grant,  the  largest  number  that 
had  ever  been  taken  in  a  single  bat- 
tle on  the  American  continent  up  to 
that  time.  Donelson  was  won,  but 
it  had  cost  us  dearly.  MeClernand 
lost  1,500  men  killed  and  wounded, 
Wallace  lost  300,  Smith  lost  1.3  5  0 
and  later  on  his  own  life.  It  was 
indeed  a  great  victory,  and  the 
country  went  wild  with  delight;  all 
sorts  of  extrava.g'ances  were  indulg- 
ed in,  even  the  coolest  and  wisest 
heads  were  turned  for  the  moment: 
and    little    wonder.       When    Donelson 


THI-:    SI.MP[>E    \AFK  OF  A   ('OAf-MONER 


fell,  Columbus  and  Fiowiinti  Green 
and  Nashville  went  wiih  it.  Buell 
had  all  along  insisted  that  the  union 
army  should  make  Nashville  the 
I)oint  of  attack  instead  of  Donelson, 
but    Buell    was    wrong. 

The  Mississippi  river  was  opened 
up  again  as  far  as  Island  No.  10, 
and  it  was  demonstrated  that  the 
iroops  of  the  west  were  in  every  way 
a  match  for  the  men  of  the  South. 
It  -was  Grant's  opinion  that  if  a  com- 
petent officer  had  been  in  command 
of  all  the  troops  west  of  the  Alle- 
ghanles  the  whole  southwest  would 
have  been  taken.  In  .lanuary  it  had 
i)een  said  in  Europe,  "The  faie  of 
the  American  government  will  be 
sealed  if  February  passes  without 
some  great  victory."  Halleck  had 
telegraphed  to  McClellan:  "Fori 
Donelson  is  the  turning  point  of  the 
war  and  we  must  take  it  at  what- 
ever cost."  After  the  battle  Grant 
telegraphed  to  Halleck,  after  speak- 
ing of  the  supplies  captured,  said  of 
rice:  "I  don't  know  that  we  will 
want  any  more  during  the  war.  I 
think  I  will  send  you  the  tail  of  the 
elephant  in  the  morning  at  farth- 
est." And  in  his  congratulatory  ad- 
dress to  the  army  he  said:  "Fort 
Donelson  will  hereafter  be  marked 
in  capitals  on  the  map  of  our  coun- 
try." 

Harper's  Weekly  on  March  1st,  in 
an  article  entitled:  "The  Beginning 
of  the  End,"  said  of  Donelson:  "It 
is  probably  the  culminating  point  in 
the  struggle  between  the  U.  S.  gov- 
ernment and  the  malcontents."  Ev- 
en Mr.  Lincoln  shared  the  general 
optimistic  views  of  the  country. 
Harper's  Weekly  of  March  Sth  said: 
"The  president  assumes  in  his  am- 
nesty proclamation  that  the  rebellion 
has  culminated  and  will  henceforth 
steadily     decline,     and     undoubtedly 


the  general  feeling  is  that  the  heart 
of  the  difficulty  has  been  pierced  and 
that  nothing  now  remains  for  it  but 
to  bleed  to  death."  It  was  then  that 
Halleck  created  the  phrase  that  was 
so  often  referred  to  afterward: 
"The  backbone  of  the  rebellion  is 
broken." 

Lieutenant  Snowden  said  to  me: 
"Well,  Sergeant,  we  may  as  well  go 
home  now,  the  war  is  about  over." 
Discharges  were  freely  offered  to 
the  sick  and  the  wounded.  Even 
those  who  had  been  but  slightly 
hurt  were  offered  a  discharge.  I  was 
offered  one  myself,  and  it  was  urged 
upon  me  in  lieu  of  a  furlough,  which 
I   greatly  desired  at  that  time. 

In  Richmond  there  was  a  reign  of 
terror.  The  union  sentiment  began 
to  assert  itself:  the  city  was  placard- 
ed with  calls  upon  union  men  to 
watch  and  wait.  .Many  of  the  lead- 
ing citizens  were  arrested  upon  sus- 
picion of  being  union  men,  and  ev- 
erything  was  at   sea. 

It  was  along  about  that  time  that 
so  many  puns  and  riddles  and  jokes 
began  to  be  perpetrated  about  the 
war.  It  was  the  success  at  Donel- 
son that  filled  Mr.  A.  Ward  so  full 
of  patriotic  enthusiasm,  that  he  de- 
clared he  was  willing  to  sacrifice  all 
his  wife's  relations.  The  greatest 
feat  of  the  day  was  "Footing  it  up 
the  Cumberland."  They  said  that 
many  a  man  wno  had  a  raging  fever 
before  going  into  battle  hart  the 
ague  afterward.  A  civilian  gravely 
told  a  friend  that  a  74  pounder  was 
a  cannon  that  sent  a  pound  ball  7  4 
miles.  A  dull  and  plausable  man 
was  like  an  unrifled  gun  because  he 
was  a  smooth  bore;  while  many  a 
man  who  was  a  quartermaster  in 
the  army,  had  a  wife  who  was  a 
whole   master   at    home. 


TilK    SI.MI'I.) 


'K   OK  A   CO.M.MOXKR 


CHAPTER   Xlll. 

Of  course  Fort  Donelson  is  not  to 
be  coniparerl  with  some  of  the  later 
conflicts  in  many  important  particu- 
lars. Shiloh,  Vicksburg,  Chica- 
niauga  and  Gettysburg  witnessed 
the  destruction  of  vastly  more  prop- 
erty. Thousands  more  were  killed 
and  wounded  because  more  thou- 
sands were  engaged  on  these  fields, 
but  in  the  whole  range  of  military 
operatic ns  noi  one  ever  surpassed 
Fort  Donelson  in  purely  military 
value,  and  so  it  has  ever  been  re- 
garded   among     military    men. 

Of  the  part  taken  by  the  Second 
Iowa  in  this  great  victory,  Mr.  L.  D. 
Ingersoll,  whom  I  have  quoted  else- 
where, has  this  to  say:  "As  for  the 
Second  Iowa,  it  here  won  a  reputa- 
tion which  can  never  fade  from  the 
minds  of  mankind  so  long  as  the 
victory  of  Fort  Donelson  shall  be 
remembered.  In  the  fine  army  of 
western  troops,  whose  wonderful 
gallantry  wrested  the  stronghold 
from  the  insurgents,  and  caused 
even  rebel  writers  and  rebel  officers 
to  admit  that  the  volunteers  of  the 
northwestern  states  and  the  terri- 
tory of  Nebraska  were  more  than 
a  match  for  the  best  troops  of  the 
South ;  in  all  this  fine  array  the 
Second  Iowa  won  the  palm  of  the 
most  conspicuous  and  daring  con- 
duct. All  the  troops,  with  a  sense 
of  justice  which  is  ever  character- 
istic of  brave  men,  gladly  admitted 
it,  and  the  lines  of  the  army  rang 
with  loud  praises  of  Colonel  Tuttle 
and  his  regiment,  as  well  as  of  Gen- 
eral Smith  and  Colonel  Lauman,  the 
general  officers  who  had  charge  of 
the  assault.  More,  the  admirable 
achievement  of  the  regiment  brought 
forth  enthusiasm  from  the  imper- 
turbable Halleck,  a  thing  well  nigh 
as  wonderful  as  the  miracle  of  Moses 


wliich  brought  forth  living  waters 
from  the  barren  rock  of  the  wilder- 
ness. He  telegraphed  as  follows: 
St.  Louis,  Feb.  16,  1862.  Adjutant 
General  N.  B.  Baker:  "The  Second 
Iowa  Infantry  proved  themselves  the 
bravest  of  the  brave.  They  had  the 
honor  cf  leading  the  column  which 
entered  Fort  Donelson.'  H.  W. 
Halleck,  Major  General.  I  may  add 
that  General  Halleck  was  in  com- 
mand of  the  Department  of  the  .Mis- 
souri, which  at  that  time  included 
the  territory  in  which  Fort  Donelson 
was  located.  Also  that  N.  B.  Baker 
was  Adjutant  General  of  Iowa,  un- 
der Governor  Kirk  wood.  Mr.  Inger- 
soll goes  on  to  say:  "It  may  well 
be  supposed  that  the  fame  of  the 
Second  Iowa,  borne  on  the  swift 
v.ings  of  the  telegraph  and  the  press, 
soon  penetrated  every  part  of  Iowa. 
The  General  Assembly  was  in  ses- 
sion, and  when  a  committee  sent  to 
the  field  of  battle  to  care  for  our 
wounded,  returned  to  the  capital, 
bearing  with  them  the  flag  that  had 
been  borne  on  the  glorious  field, 
there  was  an  outpouring  of  people 
and  of  eloquence  at  Des  Moines.  The 
flag  was  presented  to  the  House,  for 
custody  on  the  Speaker's  desk  until 
the  close  of  the  session,  then  to  be 
turned  over  to  the  State  Historical 
Society.  The  Hon.  Rush  Clerk, 
Speaker,  received  the  flag  and  made 
an  address  of  which  I  quote  but  lit- 
tle: "The  valorous  deeds  of  the 
Second  Iowa  are  already  a  part  of 
our  national  history,  and  make  up 
one  of  its  most  brilliant  pages.  It 
would  be  vain  to  rehearse  them  now. 
The  unfaltering  on?et  of  those  gal- 
lant men  is  written  in  the  sleepless 
memory  of  a  million  freemen.  Noth- 
ing can  be  abated,  none  of  their 
achievements  forgotten."  It  was  a 
page    of    history,     written     in    blood. 


so 


THI']   Sl.MIMJO    \AFK   OF  A   COAFMONRR 


lor  of  the  six  hundred  and  thirty 
officers  and  men  who  formed  the 
storming  party,  which  were  all  of 
the  regiment  fit  for  duty  at  the  time, 
forty-one  were  killed  outright  and 
one  hundred  and  fifty-seven  woand- 
ed,  many  of  Ihem  so  severely  fhat 
they    died    soon-   afterward. 

Of  the  events  Immediately  follow- 
ing the  battle  I  am  wholly  ignorant, 
for  the  day  after  we  marched  into 
the  fort,  my  chum,  Joseph  Conway 
and  I  went  down  to  the  river  to 
examine  the  water  battery  which 
had  played  such  havoc  with  Foote's 
gunboats,  and  on  cur  way  back  I 
was  seized  with  a  weakness  for 
which  I  was  unable  to  account.  My 
limbs  refused  to  sustain  the  weight 
of  my  body,  and  had  it  not  been 
for  my  friend  I  would  have  fallen 
to  the  ground.  As  it  was  a  faintness 
came  over  me  and  I  could  go  no 
farther.  Fortunately  we  were  not 
very  far  from  the  camp:  so  that 
after  resting  awhile,  1  managed 
with  the  help  of  my  friend,  upon 
whom  1  leaned,  to  get  back  to  my 
quarters.  My  illness  proved  to  be 
a  severe  case  of  pneumonia,  brought 
on  by  the  exposure  to  the  severe 
weather  from  which  so  many  suffer- 
ed, and  especially  that  of  the  night 
of  the  14th.  We  .had  no  sooner 
reached  the  compaity  quarters  than 
I  lost  all  knowledge  of  what  was 
passing  about  me.  The  four  weeKS 
following  were  an  utter  blank  to  me 
and  Avill  ever  remain  so,  a  fact  which 
on  some  accounts  has  always  filled 
me    with    regret. 

^Vhen  I  finally  regained  conscious- 
ness, I  found  my  self  lying  in  a  bunk 
which  had  formerly  been  occupied 
by  a  rebel,  but  it  was  none  the 
worse  for  that,  and  some  of  the  time 
following  1  was  glad  to  be  alive. 
Even    so,    it    was    a    rather   sorrowful 


awakening,  in  view  of  what  was  so 
soon  to  follow.  When  I  fir.-t  open- 
ed my  eyes  in  consciousness  they 
rested  on  the  face  of  my  dear  faith- 
ful friend,  .loseph  Conway,  who  was 
more  than  a  brother  to  me;  a  great, 
l)ig-hearled,  whole-souled  fellow,  as 
nol)le  a  hian  as  ever  lived.  From 
the  time  of  our  first  acquaintance  in 
our  school  days  through  all  the 
years  which  have  followed,  though 
our  pathways  in  life  have  been  some- 
what different,  I  have  never  foi-  one 
moment  forgotten  that  splendid 
man,  cr  thought  of  him  with  feel- 
ing.?  other  than  ihoso  of  the  deepest 
gratitude,  for  what  he,  on  more  than 
one  occasion,  has  done  for  me.  God 
ble-ss  .Joe  Conway.  Poor  fellow,  he 
has  for  years  been  entiiely  deaf,  an 
affliction  caused  by  the  concus- 
sion of  cannon  firing  in  the  battle 
of  Corinth,  which  at  times  was  very 
severe. 

;My  sickness  had  greatly  reduced 
me  in  flesh  and  left  me  very  weak. 
Also  1  was  left  alone,  except  when 
my  food  was  brought  in.  This  food 
which  was  the  best  that  could  be 
procured  at  the  time,  consisted  chief- 
ly of  coffee,  army  biscuit  and  salt 
pork,  all  good  enough  in  themselves 
for  a  healthy  marn,  but  not  very 
appetizing  to  a  convalescent  as  weak 
as  1  was.  ?ilany  times  since  then 
have  I  been  prone  to  make  compari- 
sons between  an  illness  like  that  and 
one  equally  severf  under  the  loving 
care  of  a  mother  or  a  wife  at  home 
In  comparison  with  my  sufferings  at 
Fort  Donelson  it  is  a  positive  luxury 
to  suffer  at  home,  with  a  devotea 
wife  and  loving  friends  to  care  for 
you,  anticipate  you*-  needs,  provide 
you  with  food  suitable  to  your  con- 
dition, and  do  for  you  in  every  way. 
I  have  had  occasion  two  or  three 
timers    in    my    life    to    prove    all    tliis. 


THE   SIMPLE   EIFE  OP  A  COMMONER 


81 


for  I  have  seen  the  time  when  a 
painful,  serious  illness  was  a  posi- 
tive enjoyment  though  it  may  seem 
a  strange  thing  to  say. 

Upon  regaining  consciousness  I 
learned  that  the  regiment  had  gone 
to  Pittsburg  Landing,  on  the  Ten- 
nessee river,  having  taken  its  de- 
parture a  few  days  before.  A  little 
squad  among  whom  was  my  friend 
Conway  had  been  left  behind  to  take 
by  boat  such  camp  equipage  as 
could  not  well  be  conveyed  over 
land.  The  boats  were  to  proceed 
down  the  Cumberland  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Ohio,  then  down  that  river 
to  the  Tennessee  and  on  up  the 
Tennessee  to  General  Grant's  camp 
at  Pittsburg  Landing,  where  the 
Union  forces  were  gathering  in  great! 
numbers.  As  soon  as  I  was  able  to 
crawl  out  of  my  bunk  and  pack  Avhat 
few  things  I  possessed  in  my  knap- 
sack, I  started  for  the  river,  where 
1  was  told  a  steamer  was  loading 
with  supplies  to  be  carried  to  Pitts- 
burg Landing.  Securing  a  stick  which 
someone  had  thrown  away,  I  began 
my  journey  to  the  boat  landing.  Un- 
able to- carry  my  knapsack,  I  seized 
it  by  the  strap  and  dragged  it  after 
me,  as  I  placed  my  stick  in  front 
and  managed  to  pull  myself  a  few 
steps  forward;  then  unable  to  go  any 
further,  I  would  drop  to  the  ground 
in  utter  helplessness  and  declare  to 
myself  that  it  was  no  use,  I  could 
not  make  the  boat;  I  might  as  well 
die  right  there  as  to  make  any  fur- 
ther effort.  But  then  there  was  the 
battlefield  with  all  its  scenes  of 
anguish  and  horror  as  vivid  befoi'e 
me  as  on  the  day  it  had  been  fought. 
In  my  weak  condition  1  could  hear 
the  groans  of  the  dying;  I  could  see 
the  torn  and  mangled  dead  lying 
around  me  as  I  had  heard  and  seen 
them    on    the    day   of   the   battle.      It 


was  all  fresh  before  me,  and  it  was 
utterly  horrible.  To  one  in  a  nor- 
mal condition  it  would  have  made 
little  impression,  comparatively,  but 
I  felt  it  all  and  more.  Then  I  would 
think  of  home  and  the  loved  ones 
there,  and  I  would  say  to  myself: 
"Come,  come,  this  won't  do;  I  will 
not  give  up,  I  will  make  another 
effort,"  and  getting  to  my  feet 
again  after  a  struggle,  would  put 
out  my  stick  and  drag  myself  for- 
ward a  few  steps,  only  to  collapse 
and  go  down  again  utterly  exhaust- 
ed. It  was  fortunate  for  me  that 
it  was  down  hill  all  the  way,  or  I 
never  could  have  made  it;  as  it  was, 
after  giving  up  the  struggle  and 
lying  down  to  die  several  times,  I 
succeeded  in  finally  reaching  the 
landing  and  found  the  boat  I  had 
been  told  was  there.  Leaving  the 
fort  some  time  in  the  morning,  it 
had  taken  the  entire  day  to  reach 
the  river,  and  the  distance  could  not 
have  been  much  over  half  to  three- 
quarters  of  a  mile.  It  was  late  in 
the  evening  when  I  reached  the 
river.  I  was  soon  discovered  by  my 
friend,  Conway,  who  was  greatly 
astonished  to  find  me  there.  I  told 
him  I  wanted  to  get  away  on  that 
boat  to  a  hospital  somewhere  if  pos- 
sible. He  immediately  went  to  the 
captain  to  obtain  a  passage  for  me, 
but  soon  returned  to  say  the  cap- 
tain had  declared  with  an  oath  that 
he  would  not  have  any  sick  men 
aboard  his  boat.  "Well,  .Toe,"  I 
said,  "I  am  going  on  this  boat,  they 
can  do  no  more  than  throw  me  into 
the  river  and  if  I  am  to  go  to  hea- 
ven now,  it  is  just  as  near  by  water 
as  it  is  by  land."  "Yes,"  he  replied, 
"that's  so,  and  I'll  tell  you  what 
we'll  do.  You  stay  where  you  are 
till  after  dark,  then  I'll  get  you  on 
lioard   unseen   by   the   officers   of  the 


H2 


THE   SniPLE  EIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


boat  and  you  can  hide  under  that 
canvass  (indicating  some  tenting 
stuff  that  was  piled  upon  the  bow  of 
the  boat)  till  she  pulls  out  and  after 
that  we  must  take  our  chances."  So 
I  concealed  myself  under  the  tent 
stuff  until  the  boat  backed  out  into 
the  river  and  headed  down  stream, 
then  crawling  out  of  my  hiding  place 
I  appeared  among  the  boatmen  very 
weary  and  very  hungry.  No  man 
knows  how  much  he  can  endure  un- 
till  he  is  put  to  the  test.  Disheart- 
ened utterly,  he  may  be  confronted 
with  difficulties  apparently  insur- 
mountable; he  may  time  and  again 
be  tempted  to  yield  before  them  and 
give  up  in  despair,  but  if  he  possesses 
good  courage  and  holds  to  the  an- 
chor of  his  soul,  he  will  eventually 
overcome  them  all  and  then  the  vic- 
tory will  be  the  sweeter  because  of 
the  severe  struggles  which  were  con- 
stantly required  to  master  them. 

It  was  fortunate  for  me  that  the 
steward  of  the  boat  was  a  good 
Union  man  and  that  he  possessed  a 
kind  heart,  for  he  took  pity  on  me 
as  soon  as  my  condition  was  made 
known  to  him.  He  made  me  some 
excellent  soup  which  did  me  much 
good,  and  I  felt  very  grateful  for  it. 
When  we  reached  Paducah  I  was 
transferred  to  another  boat  and  sent 
down  the  Ohio  river  to  Mound  City, 
Illinois,  where  a  temporary  hospital 
had  been  provided  in  an  old  packing 
house,  where  I  found  quite  a  num- 
ber of  sick  and  wounded  soldiers, 
who,  like  myself,  had  been  tempor- 
arily left  there  until  some  other  dis- 
position could  be  made  of  us.  I  was 
detained  at  Mound  City  only  until 
word  could  be  sent  to  my  father, 
who  immediately  came  after  me,  and 
obtaining  a  furlough  took  me  home, 
where  I  soon  regained  health  and 
strength. 


During  the  period  of  my  convales- 
ence,  the  battle  of  Shiloh  was  fought 
and  as  I  knew  the  Second  Iowa  must 
have  been  in  the  battle  I  was  greatly 
troubled  about  it  until  news  from 
the  field  reached  us.  The  people  at 
home  seemed  to  think  I  would  know 
all  about  it  and  I  was  bombarded 
with  all  sorts  of  questions,  none  of 
which  I  was  able  to  answer,  as  I 
knew  no  more  about  it  than  they. 
I  could  only  say  that  I  thought  it 
highly  probable  a  great  battle  had 
taken  place.  Reports  from  the  field 
socn  came  in  however,  from  which 
it  was  learned  that  two  privates  of 
Company  "I"  had  been  killed  and 
Captain  Cox  and  another  private 
wounded.  Immediately  after  the  bat- 
tle Captain  Cox  tendered  his  resigna- 
tion and  came  home.  Upon  receiv- 
ing the  news  from  Shiloh,  I  hasten- 
ed back  to  the  regiment  to  learn 
that  during  my  absence  I  had  been 
promoted  to  the  office  of  Orderly 
Sergeant  of  the  company.  I  found 
the  boys  in  good  spirits  and  eager 
for  an  advance  farther  into  the 
enemy's    country. 

There  is  little  to  be  said  of  the 
advance  south  from  Pittsburg  Land- 
ing so  far  as  active  operations  were 
concerned.  All  the  forces  in  that 
section  were  concentrated  under 
Major  General  H.  W.  Halleck,  with 
Grant  second  in  command.  Halleck, 
while  possessing  many  soldierly 
qualities,  was  not  a  great  field  com- 
mander. Had  Grant  been  given  com- 
mand of  all  the  forces  in  the  West 
at  that  period  the  immediate  results 
would  have  been  different.  The  ad- 
vance from  Shiloh  to  Corinth,  twen- 
ty miles  away,  which  was  the  objec- 
tive point  held  by  Beauregard,  the 
Confederate  General,  was  made  dur- 
ing the  month  of  May.  General  Hal- 
leck   was    over     cautious;       he      was 


Till-:   Sl.Ml'Ll-:    LIFE  OF  A   COMMONER 


s:! 


riiuid,  and  moved  slowly  when  he 
should  have  pressed  the  advantage 
gained  at  Pittsburg  Landing.  A  short 
march  would  be  made  and  then  in- 
trenchments  thrown  up  at  night, 
the  army  sleeping  on  its  arms  and 
kept  in  a  state  of  constant  alarm, 
which  in  the  light  of  subsequent 
events  seemed  to  have  been  quite 
unnecessary.  General  Halleck  had 
arrived  at  Pittsburg  Landing  April 
11th  and  assumed  command  of  the 
army  in  the  field.  Ten  days  later 
General  John  Pope  reached  there 
witn  an  army  of  .']0,00  0  men  who 
had  just  captured  Island  Number 
Ten,  on  the  Mississippi  river.  These 
troops  with  the  Army  of  the  Ohio 
under  General  Buell  and  the  Army 
of  the  Tennessee,  under  Grant  made 
an  effective  force  of  120,000  men, 
which  far  outnumbered  those  under 
command  of  Beauregard,  who  stood 
ready  to  evacuate  Corinth  just  as 
soon  as  Halleck  was  ready  to  make 
a  vigorous  assault  on   the  place. 

One  day  as  we  were  advancing  in 
line  of  battle,  confronted  by  a  heavy 
skirmish  line,  a  little  incident  which 
was  over  in  a  moment  startled  me 
and  one  or  two  others  who  happened 
to  notice  it.  When  marching  in  line 
of  battle  the  Orderly  Sergeant's 
place  is  at  the  head  of  his  company, 
but  the  moment  the  command  is 
given  to  halt,  he  drops  back  in  the 
rear  of  the  line.  On  the  occasion 
referred  to  I  was  marching  in  my 
place  as  usual,  when  the  order  to 
halt  was  given  and  I  stepped  back. 
Now  it  requires  but  an  instant  for 
the  gap  to  fill  when  forty  or  fifty 
thousand  men  are  marching  in  line, 
especially  where  the  ground  is  rough 
and  broken  as  was  the  case  at  that 
time.  I  had  no  sooner  stepped  back 
and  a  little  to  one  side  than  a  bul- 
let   whistled    through      the     vacancy. 


cutting  a  twig  in  two  which  was 
e.xactly  in  line  where  1  had  stood, 
and  would  have  entei-ed  my  body  at 
the  left  breast.  It  was  a  little  thing 
to  be  sure,  but  it  turned  some  very 
white  faces  in  my  direction  for  the 
moment.  What  we  are  prone  to  call 
little  things,  are  sometimes  among 
the  mightiest  forces  of  the  universe 
in  determining  the  destinies  of  the 
world. 

Inasmuch  as  oui  brigade  which 
was  now  composed  of  the  Second 
and  Seventh  Iowa,  the  "Union  Brig- 
ade" made  up  of  fragments  oi  the 
Eighth,  Twelfth  and  Fourteenth 
Iowa  regiments  which  had  escaped 
capture  at  Shiloh,  and  the  Fifty-sec- 
ond Illinois,  was  destined  to  spend 
many  months  at  Corinth,  which 
place  was  later  to  become  the  scene 
of  one  of  the  great  battles  of  the 
war,  I  take  the  liberty  to  quote 
from  the  Memoirs  of  General  Grant 
as  to  its  location  and  the  ease  with 
which  it  might  have  been  taken,  had 
General  Halleck  pushed  things: 
"Corinth,  Mississippi,  lies  in  a  south- 
westerly direction  from  Pittsburg 
Landing  and  about  nineteen  miles 
away  as  a  bird  would  fly,  but  prob- 
ably twenty-two  by  the  nearest  wa- 
gon road.  It  is  about  four  miles 
south  of  the  line  dividing  the  state 
of  Tennessee  and  Mississippi,  and  at 
the  junction  of  the  Mississippi  and 
Chattanooga  railroad  with  the  Mo- 
bile and  Ohio  road  which  runs  from 
Columbus  to  Mobile.  From  Pitts- 
burg Landing  to  Corinth  the  land 
is  rolling,  but  at  no  point  reaching 
an  elevation  that  makes  high  hills 
to  pass  over.  In  1862  the  greater 
part  of  the  country  was  covered  with 
forest,  with  intervening  clearings 
and  houses.  Underbrush  was  dense 
in  the  low  grounds  along  the  creeks 
and    ravines,    but    generally    not     so 


84 


THE   SIMPLE   LIFE  OF  A  C'O^LMONER 


tliifk  on  the  high  land  as  to  prevent 
men  passing  through  with  ease. 
There  are  two  small  creeks  running 
from  north  of  the  town  and  connect- 
ing some  four  miles  south,  where 
they  form  Bridge  Creek,  which  emp- 
ties into  the  Tuscumbia  river.  Cor- 
inth is  on  the  ridge  between  these 
streams  and  is  a  naturally  strong 
defensive  position.  The  creeks  are 
insignificant  in  volume  of  water,  but 
the  stream  to  the  east  widens  out  in 
front  of  the  town  into  a  swamp,  im- 
passable in  the  presence  of  an  enemy. 
On  the  crest  of  the  west  bank  of 
this  stream  the  enemy  was  strongly 
intrenched.  Corinth  was  a  valuable 
strategic  point  for  the  enemy  to 
hold,  and  consequently  a  valuable 
one  for  us  to  posess  ourselves  of.  We 
ought  to  have  seized  it  immediately 
after  the  fall  of  Donelson  and  Nash- 
ville, when  it  could  have  been  taken 
without  a  battle,  but  failing  then, 
it  should  have  been  taken  without 
delay  on  the  concentration  of  troops 
at  Pittsburg  Landing  after  the  bat- 
tle of  Shiloh.  In  fact  the  arrival 
of  Pope  should  not  have  been  await- 
ed. There  was  no  time  from  the 
battle  of  Shiloh  up  to  the  evacuation 
of  Corinth  when  the  enemy  would 
not  have  left  if  pushed.  The  de- 
moralization among  the  Confederates 
from  their  defeats  at  Henry  and 
Donelson;  their  long  marches  from 
Bowling  Green,  Columbus  and  Nash- 
ville and  their  failure  at  Shiloh;  in 
fact  from  having  been  driven  out  of 
Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  was  so 
great  that  a  stand  for  the  time 
would  have  been  impossible."'  Thus 
it  was  that  one  of  the  finest  oppor- 
tunities of  the  war  was  frittered 
away  through  the  dawdling  tactics 
of  an  over  cautious  commander. 

At    length,    however,    Corinth    was 
reached.      Just    before     daylight     on 


the  morning  of  May  30th,  a  com- 
rade who  had  spent  a  sleepless  night, 
awakened  me  with  a  violent  shake 
and  pointing  away  to  the  south  in 
the  direction  of  Corinth,  said: 
"Harry,  what  does  that  mean?"  1 
sprang  to  my  feet  as  soon  as  I  saw 
what  had  arrested  his  attention  and 
running  over  to  Captain  Howard, 
who  was  now  in  command  of  our 
company,  I  woke  him  up  with  the 
remark:  "Captain,  the  enemy  are 
signalling  with  rockets,  may  it  not 
mean  immediate  action  for  us?" 
"Yes,"  he  replied,  "I  think  we  had 
ijetter  get  ready  for  a  forward  move- 
ment." The  rockets  had  been  seen 
by  ethers  of  course,  and  orders  were 
soon  received  from  headquarters 
which  indicated  an  advance.  The 
entire  army  was  at  once  called  into 
line  of  battle,  but  there  was  no  con- 
flict, ,for  Beauregard  had  published 
orders  for  the  evacuation  of  Corinth 
four  days  before.  On  the  29th  his 
army  took  its  departure  and  the 
rockets  we  had  seen  were  simply  a 
notice  that  the  rear  guard  with  what 
baggage  had  been  left  the  day  be- 
fore, was  now  on  its  way  to  join  the 
main  force  again.  So  it  came  to  pass 
that  we  entered  Corinth  without  op- 
position. 

Following  the  battles  of  Donelson 
and  Shiloh  some  changes  had  taken 
place  among  the  officers  of  the  regi- 
ment. Colonel  Tuttle  had  been  pro- 
moted to  Brigadier  General,  James 
Baker  was  now  Colonel,  N.  W.  Mills, 
Lieutenant  Colonel  and  James  B. 
Weaver  Major,  v.ith  G.  L.  Godfrey 
Adjutant.  Several  changes  had  also 
taken  place  among  the  line  officers, 
N.  B.  Howard  was  Captain  of  Com- 
pany "I"  in  lieu  of  H.  P.  Cox,  re- 
signed; Thomas  Snowden  was  First 
Lieutenant  and  W.  W.  Stevens  had 
been  promoted  to  the  Second  Lieu- 
tenaiitcv. 


THE   SI.MIM.E   IJFE  OF  A   COMMONER 


85 


The  eneiny  who  had  blown  up  a 
vast  amount  of  ammunition  and 
stores  before  leaving,  was  pursued 
as  far  south  as  Booneville,  but  the 
destruction  of  bridges  and  obstruc- 
ticns  so  placed  by  the  retreating 
enemy  as  to  delay  us  as  much  as 
possible  enabled  them  to  get  away 
with  very  little  less.  The  siege  and 
capture  of  Corinth  had  caused  us  but 
little  less  either  in  men  or  stores  so 
that  the  experience  gained  was 
cheap  to  ijs.  It  was  not  long  after 
this  that  General  Grant  was  restored 
to  the  command  of  the  Army  of  the 
Tennessee,  of  which  he  had  been  un- 
justly deprived  through  the  jealousy 
of  others. 

The  brigade  upon  returning  from 
pursuit  of  the  enemy  found  excellent 
quarters  at  Camp  Montgomery.  It 
was  located  among  trees  which  pro- 
vided us  with  an  excellent  shade  and 
was  in  every  way  desirable.  The 
tents  were  pitched  in  regular  order, 
the  grounds  cleaned  up,  post  hos- 
pitals established,  wells  dug,  which 
supplied  us  with  wholesome  water, 
and  everything  done  to  make  things 
comfortable  and  sanitary.  Here  we 
remained  with  little  to  do  except  to 
perfect  ourselves  in  drill  and  occas- 
ionally go  on  some  expedition  after 
the  rebel  generals,  Forest  and 
Rcddy,  or  the  marauding  bands  of 
guerrillas,  who  constantly  hung 
about  our  outposts  and  sought  to 
destroy  communications,  cut  off  sup- 
plies and  kill  or  capture  straggler.-^ 
or  foragers  sent  out  after  supplies 
from  the  surrounding  country.  This 
latter,  however  was  a  vain  hope  for 
the  rebel  army  had  been  there  so 
long,  nothing  was  left  for  us. 

On  the  morning  of  September 
18th  the  troops  at  Corinth  under 
command  of  General  E.  O.  C.  Ord 
departed  for  Tuka,  where  a  battle  was 


expected  with  the  Confederates  un- 
der General  Van  Dorn.  Arriving  at 
Burnsville  on  the  Memphis  and 
Charleston  railrcad,  they  left 
the  train  and  marched  to  a  point 
north  of  luka.  Our  regiment  with 
one  from  Ohio,  numbering  in  all  900 
men  was  left  behind  as  a  guard  for 
General  Grant,  who  made  Burnsville 
his  headquarters  for  the  time,  and 
also  as  a  reserve  in  case  we  should 
be  needed.  During  the  progress  of 
the  battle  which  took  place  on  the 
lOth,  we  received  orders  to  push  on 
to  luka,  but  we  had  not  proceeded 
far  before  General  Grant,  who  had 
gone  on  ahead,  returned  and  order- 
ed us  back.  "Boys,"  he  said,  "you 
may  return  to  Burnsville:  the  battle 
is  all  over  and  you  will  not  be  need- 
ed." Whereupon  the  column  faced 
about  and  made  all  haste  back  to 
Corinth,  where  it  was  soon  to  be 
needed  in  defense  of  that  important 
strategic  point. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
On  the  morning  of  October  3rd, 
with  two  days  rations  and  one  hun- 
dred rounds  of  cartridges,  we  left 
Camp  Montgomery,  and  took  up  a 
position  on  the  outer  line  of  the  old 
rebel  rifle  pits,  two  and  a  half  miles 
distant.  Jtist  as  we  started  Lieuten- 
ant Snowden  said  to  me:  "Sergeant, 
I  want  you  to  do  me  a  favor;  we 
are  going  into  battle  and  I  shall 
never  come  out  of  it  alive:"  at  the 
same  time  taking  his  watch  which 
was  a  valuable  one,  from  his  pocket 
he  said:  "After  the  ba.ttle  is  over 
I  want  you  to  send  this  home  to 
my  wife,  and  tell  her  how  it  hap- 
pened." Under  ordinary  circum- 
stances I  would  have  cheerfully 
rendered  him  any  service  in  my 
power,  but  I  could  not  take  his 
watch,   believing  as  I   did  that  there 


THE   SniPLE   EIFR  OF  A   CO^FMONER 


was  no  greater  reason  to  suppose 
that  he  would  he  killed  than  myself, 
and  if  I  should  be  killed  also,  and 
the  watch  found  on  my  person,  my 
friends  would  never  be  able  to  ex- 
plain the  matter  and  thus  an  un- 
just stain  might  rest  upon  me.  I 
was  obliged  to  decline  to  take  it  and 
I  tried  to  make  light  of  his  fears. 
All  to  no  purpose,  however,  for 
he  was  sadly  depressed,  not  through 
any  physical  fear,  .or  he  was  a  brave 
man,  but  under  the  occult  influence 
of  that  mysterious  second  sight  or 
premonition  which  sometimes  comes 
to  the  children  of  men.  I  do  not  at- 
tempt to  explain  it:  I  know  of  no 
philosophy  that  is  able  to  unveil  this 
secret  of  mental  forboding  which, 
under  certain  conditions  assails  us. 
I  only  know  that  during  my  life  I 
have  observed  two  inistances  of  its 
influence  and  in  both  of  them  I  have 
been  made  to  play  a  secondary  part. 
The  first  was  the  case  of  Lieutenant 
Snowden,  the  second  was  that  of  my 
own  father,  to  which  I  shall  refer  in 
its  proper  place.  That  God  in  His 
infinite  goodness  has  mercifully 
withheld  from  us  the  time  and  the 
circumstances  connected  with  our 
decease,  as  well  as  the  exact  condi- 
tion of  each  individual  in  the  future 
state,  is  cause  for  thankfulness  on 
our  part;  for  if  we  knew  before- 
hand all  these  things  it  would  unfit 
us  for  the  part  we  are  assigned  in 
this  life.  Therefore,  let  us  be  con- 
tent to  walk  in  mental  darkness, 
■where  we  must,  groping  our  way 
among  the  profound  mysteries  of 
the  universe,  only  making  the  most 
of  what  few  rays  of  light  may  flit 
athwart  our  pathway  from  the  cra- 
dle to  the  tomb;  knowing  full  well 
that  in  the  hereafter  these  things 
shall  all  be  revealed  to  us  and  "We 


shall    know    even    as    also     we      are 
known." 

The  defensive  works  which  we 
were  ordered  to  occupy  had  been 
built  by  the  enemy  when  they  had 
possession  of  the  city  before  our  ad- 
vance from  Pittsburg  Landing.  The 
timber  had  been  cut  down  and  the 
brush  cleared  away  on  our  front  so 
that  there  was  nothing  to  obstruct 
the  view.  The  enemy  formed  in  the 
woods  on  our  immediate  front,  but 
moved  a  little  to  our  left  and  in 
column  by  division  charged  the  bri- 
gade under  command  of  General 
Oglesby.  It  was  a  magnificent  sight 
and  was  bravely  done.  They  moved 
steadily  forward  even  as  we  had 
done  at  Donelson.  They  were  met 
by  discharge  after  discharge  of  mus- 
ketry from  Oglesby's  men;  the  can- 
non in  front  poured  its  shrieking 
shells  among  them;  our  brigade  un- 
der Hackleman  poured  a  flanking 
fire  upon  them  when  they  were  near 
enough  for  us  to  reach  them,  but 
notwithstanding  the  deadly  fire  on 
their  front  and  the  enfilading  fire 
from  our  batteries  they  pushed  their 
way  with  great  determination  until 
they  had  driven  Oglesby  from  his 
position  on  uie  hill  and  caused  our 
entire  line  on  that  part  of  the  field 
to  fall  back  and  change  its  front. 
This  temporary  success  was  not  at- 
tained, however,  until  after  the  gal- 
lant Oglesby  had  been  severely 
wounded  and  many  of  his  men  had 
fallen.  Our  new  line  was  formed  on 
a  ridge  in  the  timber,  where  there 
was  a  heavy  growth  of  brush,  under 
cover  of  which  both  sides  were  part- 
ly concealed.  Very  soon  they  open- 
ed on  us  with  an  energetic  fire  from 
their  batteries,  to  which  our  people 
responded  with  equal  vigor.  It  was 
under    this    cannonading     that     Ser- 


THK   Sl.Ml'lvl']    ]AFK  OK  A   ('O:\IMONER 


seant  Joseph  Conway  lost  his  hear- 
ing, a  misfortune  referred  to  in 
another  place.  After  an  artillery 
play  of  about  thirty  minutes,  the 
enemy  made  ready  to  charge  us 
again  with  his  infantry.  We  were 
lying  flat  on  the  ground  at  this  mo- 
ment with  quite  a  well  defined  dis- 
position to  "grab  a  root."  The  of- 
ficers had  charged  us  to  hold  our 
tire  until  orders  were  given  to  shoot, 
and  with  most  commendable  self- 
control  the  men  obeyed  that  com- 
mand. Only  one  shot  was  fired  be- 
fore the  word  was  given  and  that 
was  by  a  man  who  was  unable  to 
control  his  nerves,  and  did  no  harm. 
When  the  command  was  finally  giv- 
en just  as  the  rebels  came  charging 
upon  us  with  their  famous  "rebel 
yell,"  the  entire  Union  line  rose  to 
its  feet  and  poured  such  a  withering 
fire  upon  them  that  unable  to  stand 
before  the  bayonet  charge  which  im- 
mediately followed,  they  broke  and 
sought  cover  under  the  banks  of  a 
little  creek  on  our  front,  which 
partly  sheltered  them.  There  they 
made  a  stand  and  until  darkness  be- 
gan to  fall  they  stoutly  maintained 
their  ground  and  did  much  execu- 
tion among  us,  especially  upon  our 
officers,  who  suffered  severely 
General  Hackleman,  commander  of 
our  brigade,  was  killed;  Colonel 
Baker  of  our  regiment  was  mortally 
wounded  and  died  soon  after;  Lieu- 
tenants Huntington,  Snowden  and 
Bing  were  also  killed,  with  a  large 
number  of  non-commissioned  officers 
and  privates  killed  and  wounded. 
Soon  after  the  rebel  onslaught 
and  their  discomfiture,  I  noticed  sev- 
eral of  the  enemy  moving  about  in 
the  timber  near  the  creek,  already 
referred  to,  and  turning  to  call  the 
attention  of  Lieutenant  Snowden  to 
their    movements,    T    was    startled    to 


behold  him  stretched  iipon  his  back 
on  the  ground.  His  premonition  had 
become  a  verity;  a  bullet  had  pierc- 
ed his  brain  and  he  had  died  in- 
stantly. Almost  at  the  same  mo- 
ment I  felt  a  sharp  blow  on  my 
left  side  which  I  imagined  at  the 
time  to  have  been  caused  by  a  piece 
of  bark  knocked  from  a  tree  near 
which  I  happened  to  be  standing  at 
the  time.  At  the  close  of  the  battle 
that  evening,  taking  a  "hardtack" 
from  my  haversack  I  found  a  round 
hole  right  through  the  center  of  it 
which  I  knew  had  been  made  by  a 
bullet.  Upon  further  examination  I 
discovered  several  other  crackers 
pierced  in  the  same  way,  the  bullet 
had  passed  through  five  or  six  of 
those  biscuits  and  a  piece  of  salt 
pork  and  then  had  glanced  off,  after 
striking  another  hardtack  and  pas- 
sed through  my  haversack.  Thus  it 
happened  that  those  much  maligned 
army  biscuits  had  protected  me 
against  the  assaults  of  foes  without, 
in  addition  to  ministering  to  my 
necessities  from  within;  and  I  was 
again  thankful  to  that  kind  Provi- 
dence which  had  continued  to  watch 
over  me  for  the  marvellous  preser- 
vation of  my  life.  After  the  battle 
and  pursuit  of  the  enemy  Colonel 
T.  W.  Sweeney  of  the  Fifty-second 
Illinois,  who  assumed  command  of 
the  brigade  upon  the  death  of  Gen- 
eral Hackleman,  made  his  report  of 
the  part  taken  by  the  troops  under 
his  command,  from  which  I  take 
the  following  extract:  "The  regi- 
ments composing  the  brigade  were 
posted  as  follows:  The  Fifty-sec- 
ond Illinois  on  the  right,  the  Sec- 
ond Iowa  on  the  left  of  the  Fifty- 
second,  and  the  Seventh  Iowa  on  the 
left  of  the  Second.  The  Union  Bri- 
gade came  up  at  this  point  from 
Danville  and   was  posted  on  the  left 


88 


THE   sniP[.E    IJFR  OF  A  COiM.MONER 


of  the  battery,  which  was  in  posi- 
tion on  the  left  of  the  Seventh 
Iowa."  After  referring  to  the  ar- 
tillery duel  already  mentioned  he 
goes  on  to  say:  "The  enemy  burst 
from  the  woods  in  front  in  magnifi- 
cent style  in  columns  by  divisions, 
and  moved  swiftly  across  the  open 
field  until  within  point-blank  range, 
when  they  deployed  into  and  opened 
a  tremendous  fire,  moving  steadily 
to  the  front  all  the  time.  Our  men, 
who  had  been  ordered  to  lie  down, 
now  rose  and  poured  in  their  fire 
Avith  such  deadly  effect  that  the  foe, 
after  a  short  but  sanguinary  strug- 
gle, reeled,  broke  and  fled  in  dis- 
may. Again  they  advanced,  but  were 
forced  back  at  the  point  of  the  bay- 
onet with  great  slaughter,  our  men 
driving  them  across  the  open  field 
and  into  the  woods.  It  was  in  this 
charge  that  brave  Colonel  Baker  fell 
mortally  wounded.  His  last  words. 
"I  die  content;  I  have  seen  my  regi- 
ment victoriously  charging  the  en- 
emy," were  worthy  of  him.  The 
enemy  now  receiving  heavy  rein- 
forcements, the  fighting  between 
them  and  the  Fifty-second  Illinois 
and  Second  and  Seventh  Iowa  be- 
came desperately  fierce,  the  right  of 
the  Union  brigade  having  given  way 
at  the  very  beginning  of  the  engage- 
ment. Just  at  this  juncture  part  of 
Mower's  brigade  moved  to  our  sup- 
port, but  before  they  could  be  de- 
ployed into  line  they  became  panic- 
stricken  and  broke  in  confusion.  It 
was  while  endeavoring  to  rally  these 
men  that  Generals  Hackleman  and 
Oglesby  were  wounded.  The  former 
received  his  death  wound  while  thus 
rallying  troops  to  sustain  his  own 
gallant  brigade.  His  last  words 
were,  "I  am  dying,  but  I  die  for  my 
country.  If  we  are  victorious,  send 
my  remains   home;    if  not,    bury   me 


on  the  field."  No  nobler  sentiment 
was  ever  uttered  by  soldier  or  pa- 
triot. After  he  fell  the  command  of 
the  brigade  devolved  on  me,  and 
the  fight  continued  with  unabated 
fury  until  our  ammunition  was  al- 
most expended;  but  by  this  time  the 
enemy  had  almost  disappeared  from 
our  front,  although  it  was  evident 
he  was  massing  his  troops  on  our 
left,  for  the  purpose  of  turning  our 
flank.  About  this  time  a  regiment 
of  Colonel  Mower's  brigade  relieved 
the  Fifty-second  Illinois,  which  was 
out  of  ammunition,  and  an  order  be- 
ing received  from  General  Davies  a 
few  minutes  after  to  fall  back,  we 
retired  in  good  order  and  took  posi- 
tions on  the  right  of  Fort  Robinette. 
It  was  now  .5  p.  m.  and  a  fresh  sup- 
ply of  ammunition  was  here  dis- 
tributed to  the  troops.  About  10 
p.  m.  I  received  an  order  to  move 
my  brigade  to  the  rear  of  General 
Ord's  old  headquarters  and  form 
line  of  battle  facing  to  the  north. 
From  this  place  I  was  ordered  about 
2:30  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the 
4  th  to  take  position  on  the  Purdy 
road,  in  the  suburbs  of  the  town,  to 
the  north,  the  right  of  my  brigade 
resting  on  the  redan  occupied  by  Lieu- 
tenant Green  of  the  First  Missouri 
artillery,  with  four  guns.  Two  more 
were  placed  in  th-^  interval  between 
the  Fifty-second  Illinois  and  Second 
Iowa.  Here  the  brigade  stacked 
arms  in  line  of  battle  and  bivouaced 
until  daybreak.  From  early  dawn 
until  8  a.  m.  a  brisk  fire  was  kept 
up  between  our  batteries  and  those 
of  the  enemy  until  the  latter  were 
silenced  or  captured." 

This  artillery  engagement  to 
which  Colonel  Sweeney  refers  was 
very  expensive  to  the  rebels.  Dur- 
ing the  night  they  had  placed  one 
battery  in  close  range  of  our  heavier 


Tlll<:   Sl.Ml'IJO   I.lFl^]  OF  A   COMMONER 


Si) 


guns  and  we  knew  it  would  l)e  des- 
troyed in  the  morning:  so  we  lis- 
tened to  them  with  great  compla- 
cency as  they  were  getting  it  ready 
lor  action.  Poor  fellows,  just  as 
soon  as  It  was  light  enough  to  see 
our  battery  Robinette  opened  on 
them  and  at  the  first  discharge  their 
guns  were  put  out  of  commission 
and  all  of  those  who  served  them 
were  either  killed  or  wounded  with 
possibly  one  or  two  exceptions.  At 
the  first  opportunity  a  few  of  ua 
boys  went  over  to  the  place  where 
the  battery  had  stood.  The  sight 
was  a  sickening  one,  the  dead  artill- 
erymen were  piled  on  each  other  in 
a  heap  as  though  they  had  been 
purposely  thrown  together.  Their 
bodies  were  swollen  to  much  beyond 
their  natural  size  and  their  faces 
had  turned  black.  It  was  one  of  the 
most  gruesome  sights  I  ever  beheld. 
The  impression  it  made  on  me  re- 
mains, an  uncanny  remembrance,  to 
this  day.  The  Colonel  goes  on  to 
say:  "I  cautioned  my  men  who 
were  lying  on  the  ground,  to  re- 
serve their  fire  until  the  enemy  got 
within  point-blank  range,  and  then 
fire  low  and  keep  perfectly  cool.  It 
was  a  terribly  beautiful  sight  to  see 
the  enemy's  columns  advance,  in 
despite  of  a  perfect  storm  of  grape 
and  cannister,  shell  and  rifle  ball: 
still  on  they  marched  and  fired, 
though  their  ranks  were  perceptibly 
thinned  at  every  step.  The  brigade 
stood  firm  as  a  rock,  and  the  men 
loaded  and  fired  with  the  coolness 
and  precision  of  veterans,  when  all 
of  a  sudden  the  troops  on  the  right 
of  the  redan  (a  brigade  of  Hamil- 
ton's division)  gave  way  and  broke. 
The  First  Missouri  Artillery  in  the 
redan  and  the  two  pieces  on  the  left 
of  the  Fifty-second,  limbered  up  and 
galloped       off      in       wild       confusion 


through  our  reserves,  killing  several 
of  our  men  and  scattering  the  rest. 
.My  line  remained  still  unbroken, 
pouring  deadly  volleys  into  the 
enemy's  ranks,  who,  taking  advan- 
tage of  the  panic  on  the  right,  mov- 
ed their  columns  obliquely  in  that 
direction  and  charged  up  the  redan. 
Unfortunately  the  officer  in  charge 
of  the  Fifty-second  Illinois,  Lieuten- 
ant-Colonel Wilcox,  instead  of  meet- 
ing the  enemy  boldly,  ordered  the 
regiment  to  fall  back  without  au- 
thority, and  before  I  could  halt  it 
the  regiment  broke.  The  Union 
brigade  gave  way  simultaneously 
with  the  Fifty-second,  but  portions 
of  the  Second  and  Seventh  Iowa  still 
held  their  ground  and  kept  the 
enemy  in  check  until  the  rest  of  my 
brigade  was  rallied,  when  I  ordered 
the  coloi^s  of  the  Second  and  Seventh 
Iowa  to  fall  back  and  form  their 
regiments  on  the  side  hill,  out  of 
range  of  the  enemy's  fire,  which  they 
did  almost  immediately.  I  now  ord- 
ered the  line  to  charge  on  the  enemy, 
who  had  by  this  time  gained  the 
crest  of  the  hill  on  our  front.  With 
a  shout  that  was  heard  through  our 
whole  lines  the  men  of  the  first  bri- 
gade rushed  upon  the  enemy.  Those 
who  had  given  way  a  short  time  be- 
fore, being  evidently  ashamed  of  the 
momentary  panic  that  had  seized 
them,  seemed  determined  to  wipe 
out  the  stain  upon  their  courage  by 
their  reckless  daring.  The  foe,  re- 
luctant to  abandon  the  advantage  he 
had  gained,  fought  stubbornly  for 
awhile,  but  was  finally  compelled  to 
give  way,  retreating  in  great  confu- 
sion through  the  swamps  and  abattis 
to  the  woods,  hotly  pursued  by  our 
men.  In  this  charge  we  retook  the 
redan  and  the  guns  that  were  aban- 
doned by  the  artillery.  126  prison- 
ers, and   4  stands  of  colors.     Among 


Tin-:   SBIPLE  T.IFE  OF  A  COMMONKR 


the  prisoners  were  three  Colonels, 
four  Captains  and  three  Lieutenants. 
Thus  ended  the  battle  of  the  4th. 
On  Friday  morning  the  brigade  left 
Camp  Montgomery  with  7  7  commis- 
sioned officers  and  1,0  21  enlisted 
men.  The  Union  brigade  joined  it 
that  afternoon  with  1  .'>  co'mmissloned 
officers  and  o2  6  men,  making  a  total 
of  92  commissioned  officers  and 
1,3  47  men.  On  Saturday  night  we 
bivouaced  on  the  field,  so  warmly 
contested  that  day,  with  a  loss  of 
31  commiissioned  offi-cers  and  386 
enlisted  men,  thus  showing  a  loss  cf 
one-third  of  the  brigade  during  the 
two  days  conflict  of  the  3rd  and 
4th.  On  Sunday  morning  we  com- 
menced the  pursuit  of  the  enemy,  and 
proceeded  by  the  Chewalla  road  as 
far  as  Ruckersville,  from  which 
place  w'e  were  ordered  back,  and 
arrived  at  Camp  Montgomery  on  the 
12th  much  fatigued  but  in  good 
spirits.  On  the  5th  instant  the  Sec- 
ond and  Seventh  Iowa  were  detached 
from  my  brigade  and  ordered  back 
to  Corinth  to  report  to  General  Rose- 
crans." 

The  Second  Iowa  went  into  the 
battle  under  command  of  Colonel 
James  Baker  with  3  field,  2  staff 
and  21  line  officers  and  320  enlist- 
ed man,  making  an  aggregate  of  34  6. 
Of  this  number,  our  aggregate  loss 
in  officers  and  men  amounted  to  103, 
which  was  one-third  of  our  entire 
number.  The  "part  of  Mower's  bri- 
gade," to  which  Colonel  Sweeney 
refers  in  his  report  as  becoming 
panic  stricken  and  breaking  in  con- 
fusion, must  have  been  the  Eighth 
Wisconsin,  for  the  Major  command- 
ing that  regiment  says  in  his  report: 
"In  front  of  the  right  wing  of  my 
regiment  in  the  hollow,  was  an  Iowa 
regiment  engaged  with  the  enemy. 
My  position    upon   the   ridge  was   ex- 


posed to  the  long  range  guns  of  the 
enemy  and  my  left  wing  became 
engaged  and  the  right  wing  not  en- 
gaged, on  account  of  the  Iowa  regi- 
ment being  in  front  and  the  Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel being  wounded.  At 
this  juncture  I  ordered  the  regiment 
forward  across  the  hollow,  partially 
ma&sing  the  right  wing  with  the  left 
wing  of  the  Iowa  regiment."  The 
lov.a  regiment  referred  to  by  Major 
Jefferson  in  his  report  was  the  Sec- 
ond  Iowa. 

I  distinctly  remember  that  when 
our  ammunition  was  exhausted  on 
the  afternoon  of  the  3rd,  and  we 
were  ordered  to  fall  back  farther  up 
the  hill  where  we  were  to  receive  a 
new  supply  of  ammunition  and  at 
the  same  time  be  given  an  oppor- 
tunity to  recover  as  far  as  possible 
from  the  effects  of  the  charge  we 
had  withstood,  part  of  the  Eighth 
Wisconsin  was  ordered  forward  to 
relieve  us,  but  they  did  not  remain. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  I  saw  "Old 
Abe,"  the  eagle  carried  by  that  regi- 
ment and  so  much  talked  about, 
perched  on  a  board  borne  by  a 
brawny  soldier,  about  twenty  paces 
in  front  of  us  as  we  were  moving 
to  the  rear.  The  trouble  did  not 
lie  with  the  soldiers,  it  was  a  mis- 
take of  some  officer,  who  instead  of 
advancing  the  Wisconsin  boys  in 
column  by  company  so  as  to  have 
made  intervals  for  us  to  have  march- 
ed through  in  our  passage  to  the 
rear,  he  had  evidently  ordered  them 
forward  in  line  of  battle  which  caus- 
ed so  much  confusion  that  they  be- 
came temporarily  panic  stricken  and 
broke  to  the  rear  ahead  of  us.  The 
Eighth  Wisconsin  was  as  good  a 
body  of  men  as  there  was  in  the 
field    but    some    one    had    blundered. 

The  Second  Iowa  made  a  fine  rec- 
ord   in    the    conflict    at    Corinth,    as 


THE   SIMPLE   LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


ill 


also  did  (  thers,  on  both  sides,  in 
that  hotly  contested  battle  which 
will  always  rank  as  one  of  the  great- 
est of  the  war.  The  regiment  suc- 
ceeded in  capturing  31  prisoners  and 
one  stand  of  colors.  At  this  point 
it  may  not  be  out  of  place  to  re- 
mark that  during  the  whole  war 
Iowa  lost  five  colonels,  two  of  whom 
were  from  the  Second  Iowa,  viz: 
Baker  and  I\Iills,  for  though  Mills 
was  our  Lieutenant  Colonel  at  the 
beginning  of  the  battle  he  was  com- 
missioned Colonel  before  he  died. 
From  what  I  have  here  set  down  it 
must  not  be  supposed  that  other 
troops  did  not  render  equally  meri- 
torious services.  I  have  mentioned 
the  part  taken  by  the  regiment  of 
which  1  was  a  member  only  because 
to  do  more  than  that  would  require 
greater  space  than  could  be  allowed 
within  the  limits  of  this  volume, 
which  is  designed  to  be  nothing 
more  than  a  mere  outline  of  those 
events  with  which  I  happened  to  be 
in  seme  measure  connected.  More- 
over the  history  of  the  war  has  been 
written  by  many  competent  hands 
eome  of  whom  enter  into  all  its  de- 
tails and  have  written  from  many 
and   various  points    of   view. 

After  a  laborious  pursuit  of  the 
rebels  from  Corinth  to  Ruckersville, 
which  occupied  seven  days,  we  re- 
turned and  went  into  camp  at  Cor- 
inth, operating  fro'm  that  point 
against  the  enemy,  who  kept  us 
quite  busy.  In  the  meantime  I  had 
been  recommended  for  a  Captain's 
commission  which  arrived  in  due 
time,  to  my  great  satisfaction.  It 
stated  that  "Harry  H.  Green,  hav- 
ing been  duly  promoted  to  the  office 
of  Captain  of  Company  I,  Second 
Regiment  Volunteer  Infantry  of  the 
state  of  Iowa,  was  duly  commission- 
ed Captain  of  said  Company,  to  take 


rank  from  the  Twent  y-fouri  li  day  of 
November,  1862."  It  was  signed  by 
Samuel  J.  Kirkwo.od,  governor  of 
Iowa.  From  this  time  forward  my 
responsibilities  became  weightier.  1 
realized  that  I,  like  little  Chad  Bu- 
ford,  must  "ack  like  a  man  now." 

During  the  stay  of  the  regiment  at 
Corinth  several  expeditions  were 
made  after  different  rebel  leaders 
into  the  surrounding  territory.  The 
first  of  these  marches  was  to  Little 
Bear  creek,  four  miles  from  Tus- 
cumbia,  Alabama,  where  after  a 
sharp  engagement,  General  Roddy, 
the  rebel  commander  was  routed, 
the  bridges  burned,  a  lot  of  stores 
of  various  kinds  destroyed  and  32 
prisoners  taken.  On  our  side  there 
were  no  serious  losses.  The  great- 
er part  of  the  month  of  December 
was  spent  in  expeditions  after  Gen- 
erals Forrest  and  Roddy,  intercept- 
ing them  in  some  of  their  maraud- 
ing excursions  into  northern  Ala- 
bama. The  following  extract  from  a 
letter  written  to  a  very  dear  friend 
in  the  north,  with  whom  I  was  cor- 
responding, has  reference  to  one  of 
those   engagements: 

Corinth,  Miss.,  Dec.  15,  1862. 
Dear   M:  — 

Another  of  your  ever  welcome 
letters  is  before  me.  I  received  it 
last  evening  and  now  comes  the 
pleasant  task  of  replying.  We  have 
been  on  an  expedition  into  Alabama 
and  have  been  away  six  days.  Had 
a  very  small  fight,  only  one  or  two 
men  hurt  in  the  regiment;  chased 
the  Butternuts  over  fifteen  miles, 
keeping  up  a  running  fight  with 
them  all  the  way.  They  finally 
made  a  stand  and  opened  on  us  with 
artillery,  but  we  soon  made  them 
"skedadle,"  leaving  us  about  thirty 
killed  and  wounded  and  the  same 
number  of  prisoners.      The  latter  we 


Till']   SIMPT.E   T.IFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


brought  to  Corinth  and  paroled.  We 
marched  all  one  night  and  the  great- 
er part  of  the  day  and  was  within 
about  twelve  miles  of  Bragg's  army. 
It  was  a  daring  affair.  We  arrived 
safely  in  camp  last  night  very 
tired." 

The  arrival  of  the  mail  with  let- • 
ters  from  home  never  failed  to  be 
an  occasion  of  rare  interest  to  the 
soldier  boys  at  the  front.  Especial- 
ly was  this  the  case  when,  as  so 
often  happened,  long  delays  were 
caused  by  the  numerous  accidents 
and  incidents  met  with  in  the  army. 

Corinth,  Miss.,  .Jan.  6th,  186.']. 
Dear  M:  — 

After  being  deprived  of  the  bene- 
fits of  intercourse  with  the  whole 
world  generally  and  the  United 
States  of  America,  particularly,  the 
Corinthians  were  suddenly  surprised 
last  evening  upon  hearing  the  wel- 
come sound  of  a  locomotive  whistle 
just  from  Columbus.  That  engine 
caused  more  happiness  in  the  Second 
Iowa  than  it  has  felt  for  some  time 
before,  and  why?  Because  it  brought 
our  mail,  and  in  that  mail  were  let- 
ters from,  "well,"  the  boys  would 
say,  "no  matter  whom,  I  know  that 
I  received  one  from — you  know 
whom."  Anyone  could  have  told 
that  had  they  but  taken  the  pains 
to  watch  my  telltale  countenance  as 
I  anxiously  gazed  upon  the  P.  M. 
while  he  distributed  them  and  then 
to  have  seen  the  look  of  joy  that 
suddenly  lit  up  my  anxious  face  as 
my  eye  rested  upon  the  looked  for 
missive.  To  sum  up  the  whole  mat- 
ter in  a  nutshell,  our  communica- 
tions have  been  cut  off  for  the  last 
three  weeks,  and  last  evening  the 
train  made  its  appearance  for  the 
first  time  during  that  period,  bring- 
ing in  three  weeks  mall.  We  have 
been  out  on  two  expeditions  since  I 


wrote  last,  but  could  not  catch  the 
rebels,  I  am  sorry  to  say.  We  have 
been  living  en  half  rations  and  for 
three  or  four  days  have  had  little 
else  than  parched  corn  and  corn 
coffee.  But  I  guess  all  will  be  right 
again  in  a  few  days.  In  your  last 
letter  you  speak  ot  coming  south  to 
teach  school.  It  would  be  the  worst 
thing  you  could  do.  I  would  not 
let  a  dog  stay  down  here.  After 
the  war  is  over  they  would  say  it 
was  an  abolitionist  and  kill  it.  They 
hate  everything  northern,  especially 
northern   people." 

During  the  interval  following  the 
writing  of  the  foregoing  letter  and 
the  one  which  followed  many  things 
of  more  or  less  importance  had  hap- 
pened to  us,  which  were  so  much 
like  others  of  which  mention  has 
already  been  made  that  it  will  not 
be  interesting  to  speak  of  them  es- 
pecially as  I  am  not  writing  more 
than  a  mere  summary  of  our  own 
participation    in    these    things. 

Smith's  Bridge,  May  6th,  1863. 
Dear    M:  — 

Once  more  it  becomes  my  delight- 
ful task  to  reply  to  another  of  your 
ever  welcome  letters.  Yours  of  the 
nth  of  April  was  duly  received,  but 
until  now  I  have  not  had  a  moment 
to  spare.  We  have  just  returned 
from  an  expedition  into  Alabama, 
being  absent  about  twenty  days.  It 
Avas  the  hardest  trip  we  have  had 
during  the  war.  We  skirmished 
with  Roddy,  the  rebel  chief,  for 
twelve  successive  days.  He  would 
fight  and  fall  back.  In  the  morning 
our  artillery  would  shell  the  woods 
and  through  the  day  we  would  ad- 
vance in  line  of  battle  most  of  the 
time.  At  night  our  pickets  would 
be  within  speaking  distance  of 
theirs.  One  night  I  was  on  picket 
in    command    of    my   company   and    a 


THE  SIMPI>E  TJFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


StS 


company  of  the  Fifty-second  Illinois. 
We  were  stationed  near  a  house 
which  was  inhabited  by  a  widow. 
Between  us  and  the  rebels  was  a 
creek  and  the  widow  had  a  son 
standing  on  picket  within  fifty  yards 
of  the  house.  She  wanted  to  go 
and  see  him  but  I  could  not  permit 
lier  to  do  so.  Rather  hard,  was  it 
not?  She  was  a  kind  old  lady.  She 
told  me  her  son  had  been  conscript- 
ed. Such  is  war.  The  object  of 
the  expedition  was  attained  and  now 
we  are  all  safely  lodged  in  our  old 
quarters.  They  have  commenced 
giving-  furloughs  to  enlisted  men, 
and  I  shall  send  two  home  right 
away.  I  am  happy  to  hear  that  you 
have  got  your  diploma.  It  should 
l)e  our  aim  in  life  to  endeavor  to 
improve  ourselves  and  attain  the 
highest  success  in  life.  It  is  a  firm 
belief  of  mine  that  almost  any  object 
can  be  gained  by  proper  application. 

Several  years  ago  at  the  request 
of  a  soldier  editor  of  a  paper  pub- 
lished at  Des  Moines,  I  wrote  up  an 
incident  which  I  here  reproduce: 

"After  the  battle  of  Corinth,  Oct. 
.3rd  and  4th,  1862,  that  part  of  the 
army  of  the  Tennessee  known  as  the 
left  wing  of  the  Sixteenth  army 
corps,  remained  at  and  near  Corinth 
until  the  summer  of  1863,  doing 
garrison  duty  and  frequently  mak- 
ing forced  marches  after  Forrest 
Rhoddy  and  other  rebel  raiders,  thus 
rendering  indirect  service  to  General 
(;rant  in  his  campaign  against  Vicks- 
burg.  It  was  during  this  period  that 
Companies  A  and  I  of  the  2nd  Iowa 
Infantry,  and  part  of  a  company  ot 
Illinois  Cavalry  were  ordered  on  de- 
tached service  to  guard  a  point  on 
the  Tuscumbla  river  called  Smith's 
Bridge  which  was  about  five  miles 
southeast  of  Corinth,  and  was  re- 
garded   from    a    military     standpoint 


as  a  place  of  considerable  import- 
ance at  that  time.  Between  Smith's 
Bridge  and  the  low  swamp  the 
land  was  a  dense  body  of  timber 
through  this  timber  a  small  creek 
runs  at  right  angles  with  the  Tus- 
cumbla river;  the  road  from  Corinth 
to  the  Bridge  crosses  this  creek  a 
mile  or  thereabout  north  of  the  riv- 
er and  at  the  time  of  which  I  write 
was  made  of  corduroy  through  the 
swamps,  the  whole  furnishing  an 
excellent  cover  for  guerillas  with 
which  the  whole  country  was  at  that 
time  infested;  bands  of  as  murder- 
ous cut-throats  as  ever  went  un- 
hung. These  fellows  would  occa- 
sionally leave  their  horses  on  the 
south  side  of  the  ravine,  cross  on 
an  old  tree  that  had  fallen  so  as 
to  make  a  very  fair  bridge  and 
creeping  up  to  the  Corinth  road  lay 
for  stragglers,  orderlies,  mail  car- 
riers and  others.  In  this  way  they 
captured   several   of  our  men. 

I  had  been  detailed  to  serve  on  a 
court  martial  in  town,  of  which  the 
gallant  Col.  James  Redfield  of  the 
39th  Iowa,  who  was  thrice  wounded 
and  died  like  the  hero  he  was,  in 
defense  of  Allatoona — was  Presi- 
dent; we  were  holding  one  session 
a  day,  which  generally  lasted  from 
ten  in  the  morning  till  two  in  the 
afternoon.  It  was  my  custom  to 
ride  to  town  in  time  for  the  court 
and  then  out  to  the  Bridge  again  af- 
ter adjournment. 

Bayard,  the  horse  I  rode,  had  for- 
merly belonged  to  the  enemy,  and 
had  his  own  notions  about  some 
things,  he  used  to  remind  me  of 
Mark  Twain's  mule,  which  Twain 
said  always  looked  as  if  he  wanted 
to  lean  up  against  a  fence  and 
think.  Perhaps  this  peculiar  way 
was  due  to  climatic  influences  or 
maybe   it    was   because    he   had    been 


£»4 


THE  SIMPLE  TJFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


impressed  into  the  government  ser- 
vice against  his  will;  however  he  nev- 
er complained  of  ill  treatment,  but 
he  always  wore  a  melancholy  look. 
His  great  antipathy  was  thought  to 
be  spurs;  it  was  generally  supposed 
among  the  boys  that  it  was  consti- 
tutional with  him;  he  despised  spurs 
and  yet  nothing  seemed  to  stimulate 
him  more.  I  think  that  was  why 
they  called  him  Bayard;  gently  prod 
him  with  a  spur  and  for  the  moment 
he  appeared  to  freshen  up  like  a 
sensitive  person  under  the  bite  of  a 
mosquito,  he  would  come  to  a  dead 
stop  and  then  leisurely  turn  and  give 
a  most  vicious  snap  at  your  foot, 
but  he  was  never  in  a  hurry  about 
it,  he  always  took  time  enough  to 
think  before  he  snapped,  he  seemed 
to  enjoy  it  more  that  way. 

Mounted  u.pon  this  animal  I  was 
returning  one  afternoon  from  town 
and  had  proceeded  without  disturb- 
ance to  within  about  twenty  yards 
of  the  creek  when  I  saw  the  head 
and  shoulders  of  a  "citizen"  peer- 
ing out  of  the  thick  underbrush,  the 
citizen  had  a  shotgun  in  one  hand, 
with  the  other  he  was  pointing  to 
myself;  naturally  putting  a  hostile 
interpretation  upon  these  signs,  I 
immediately  reached  for  my  revolver 
and  then  suddenly  remembered  with 
alarm  that  I  had  forgotten  to  bring 
it  that  day.  As  soon  as  my  friend, 
the  citizen,  saw  that  1  had  discover- 
ed him  he  sprang  forward  and  yell- 
ed,   "Here's    the yankee,"    to 

whicli      a      voice      from      the      brush 

promptly   replied,   "Shoot   the  ," 

and  in  less  than  a  minute  I  was  com- 
pletely surrounded  by  fifteen  or 
twenty  guerrillas;  two  or  three  of 
them  could  not  have  been  more  than 
I  five  or  six  feet  from  me.     The  situa- 

tion was  by  no  means  enviable,  re- 
sistance   was    of    course    out    of    the 


question,  unarmed  as  1  was,  but  the 
thought  of  capture  by  guerillas,  to 
be  followed  by  a  highly  diverting 
hanging  bee  or  an  exhilerating  piece 
of  target  practice  in  which  I  could 
see  myself  contributing  no  insignifi- 
cant part,  made  me  low  spirited. 
Then  too,  there  loomed  up  in  the 
distance  the  hospitable  entertain- 
ment of  Captain  Wirz  of  Anderson- 
ville  fame.  I  could  easily  dispense 
with  all  of  that  and  so,  forgetting 
under  these  delightful  circumstances, 
all  about  Bayard's  constitutional  an- 
tipathies, I  let  him  have  both  spurs 
at  once  and  that  made  him  forget 
them  too.  He  sprang  forward  with 
a  prodigious  bound  and  as  I  threw 
myself  flat  on  his  back  and  seized 
his  mane  with  both  hands,  the  dozen 
or  more  shots  that  were  fired,  miss- 
ed their  mark  and  so  amid  a  bedlam 
of  curses  and  shouts  of  disappoint- 
ment I  escaped  untirely  unhurt.  To 
say  that  I  was  badly  scared  is  to 
put  it  too  mildly;  the  hair  has  never 
laid  perfectly  smooth  upon  my  head 
since  that  day,  but  then  cowlicks 
never  do.  " 

When  Colonel  Weaver  heard  of 
my  escape,  he  immediately  sent  for 
me  and  insisted  on  relieving  me 
from  further  service  on  the  court 
maitial,  but  1  plead  so  urgently  to 
be  continued,  feeling  quite  sure  that 
no  further  attempts  would  be  made 
to  capture  me,  that  he  finally  as- 
sented to  my  continuance  on  the 
court,  on  which  I  remained  until  its 
work   was  finished. 

CHAPTER  XV. 
We  made  ourselves  quite  comfort- 
able at  the  Bridge.  The  camp  was 
laid  out  on  a  rise  of  ground  which 
commanded  a  view  of  the  surround- 
ing country  as  far  as  the  timber 
would  permit,  and  was  located  about 


THE  SIMPLE  IJFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


lialt'  a  mile  from  the  Bridge.  We 
built  our  quarters  out  of  shakes  as 
was  the  custom  in  that  section 
among  the  poor  whites  and  negroes, 
and  they  were  very  comfortable.  We 
also  erected  a  large  building  of  logs 
which  served  as  a  fort,  church, 
dance  and  concert  hall  and  was  used 
on  frequent  occasions  for  these  diff- 
erent purposes.  The  Chaplain  of 
the  regiment  came  out  from  Corinth 
on  Sunday  occasionally  and  preached 
to  us,  and  we  had  some  very 
good  singers  among  the  boys  some 
of  whom  were  practical  christians, 
who  were  also  reinforced  by  the  na- 
tives who  seemed  to  heartily  enjoy 
those  occasions.  The  religious  ser- 
vices were  of  interest  to  us  and  I 
think   were  also  generally  profitable. 

One  Sunday  afternoon  while  the 
Chaplain  was  preaching,  firing  was 
heard  at  the  river,  the  alarm  was 
given,  and  the  boys  were  ordered 
to  get  on  their  cartridge  boxes  filled 
with  ammunition,  secure  their  guns 
and  re-assemble  at  the  church, 
ready  for  whatever  might  happen. 
When  this  had  been  done  all  return- 
ed to  the  church  and  waited  for  re- 
ports from  our  scouts  at  the  river, 
while  the  services  proceeded  as 
though  no  interruption  had  occur- 
red. It  reminded  me  of  the  stories 
that  have  come  down  to  us  from 
the  Revolutionary  War  and  from 
the  early  Indian  outbreaks,  where 
the  pioneers  went  to  church  carry- 
ing their  guns  on  their  shoulders. 
The  firing  at  the  river  was  done  by 
gueirillas,  who  had  chased  one  of 
our  scouts  sent  out  from  Corinth, 
and  had  overtaken  him  just  as  he 
reached  the  Bridge.  The  poor  fel- 
low was  badly  wounded  and  died  a 
few  days  later  in  one  of  our  cabins. 

The  officers  of  Company  A  at  this 
time   were   .1.    Tj.   Davis,   a    brother   of 


General  .leff.  C.  Davis  of  our  army. 
Captain,  L.  Tisdale,  First  Lieutenant 
and  D.  W.  Ballinger,  Second  Lieu- 
tenant. Company  I  was  officered  as 
follows:  H.  H.  Green,  Captain,  J. 
F.  Conway,  First  Lieutenant  and 
Orange  Langford,  Second  Lieuten- 
ant. Captain  Davis  was  in  com- 
mand of  the  post  and  Capt.  Green 
second  in .  command.  This  left  me 
in  charge  quite  frequently  dur- 
ing the  absences  of  Captain  Davis. 

On  onfe  of  these  occasions  I  receiv- 
ed a  communication  from  General 
Dodge,  who  was  in  command  of  the 
left  wing  of  the  Sixteenth  Army 
Corps,  notifying  me  that  a  company 
of  guerrillas  were  tearing  up  the 
track  of  the  Memphis  and  Charles- 
ton railroad,  and  ordering  me  to 
march  at  once  with  a  force  sufficient 
to  destroy  or  capture  them.  I  im- 
mediately proceeded  to  carry  out 
this  order.  Leaving  Lieutenant  Tis- 
dale at  the  Bridge  with  a  force  suffi- 
cient to  defend  it  in  my  absence  in 
event  of  an  attack,  I  made  my  way 
with  about  fifty  men  to  the  railroad 
where  the  enemy  was  supposed  to 
be  getting  in  his  work.  My  advance 
guard  discovered  him  and  immedi- 
ately returned  and  informed  me  of 
his  numbers  and  of  his  proceedings. 
I  never  knew  whether  General 
Dodge  had  been  misinformed  as  to 
the  situaition  or  whether  it  was 
meant  simply  to  ascertain  whether 
we  at  the  Bridge  were  sufficiently 
alert  to  be  relied  on  in  case  of  sud- 
den great  need.  I  only  know  the 
"enemy"  proved  to  be  a  squad  of 
harmless  negroes,  who  were  at  work 
repairing  a  break  in  the  road.  In 
my  report  of  the  affair  to  headquar- 
ters at  Corinth,  which  I  made  as 
elaborate  as  possible,  1  treated  it 
quitg  as  a  practical  joke  and  I  was 
afterward    informed    by    Majoi-    How- 


m 


TflE  sniPT.E  T>1FE  OF  A  COMIMOXRK 


aid,  who  was  at  Dodge's  headquar- 
ters in  the  capacity  of  a  staff  officer, 
thai;  my  report  created  a  good  deal 
of  amusement.  .  It  might  have  been 
a  serious  affair,  however,  for  at  that 
time  Grant  had  Pemberton  bottled 
up  in  Viclvsburg  and  Johnston,  who 
was  supposed  to  be  maiving  efforts 
to  relieve  him,  migliit  have  attempt- 
ed a  diversion  by  moving  against 
Corinth,  which  would  have  livened 
up  things  at  Smith's  Bridge.  Re- 
ports of  the  presence  of  guerrillas 
in  the  vicinity  were  generally  well 
founded  as  the  death  or  capture  of 
a  straggler  from  camp  occasionally 
abundantly  proved.  We  lost  several 
men  in  this  way,  while  others,  who 
were  pursued,  escaped  and  came  in 
with  their  reports.  Capt.  Holmes  of 
Company  C,  who  had  come  out  to 
the  .Bridge  from  Oorinth,  was  cap- 
tured and  taken  to  Andersonville 
prison,  but  later  on  escaped  or 
was  exchanged.  Negroes  and  loyal 
citizens,  of  whom  there  were  a  few, 
kept  us  well  informed  of  the  move- 
ments of  these  marauding  bands 
who  were  unattached,  sometimes 
enemies  of  both  sides,  though  usual- 
ly they  were  in  sympathy  with  the 
South,  as  might  naturally  be  expect- 
ed. It  was  their  custom  to  annoy 
our  pickets,  whose  exact  location 
wiis  disclosed  by  disloyal  citizens 
who  made  it  their  business  to  find 
out  just  where  our  lines  were  locat- 
ed and  where  each  picket  might  be 
found.  Under  cover  of  the  darkness 
they  would  steal  up  at  night,  shelt- 
ered and  hidden  by  the  timber,  and 
either  shoot  or  knife  our  boys  if 
they  were  not  discovered  in  time. 
Knowing  the  country  as  thoroughly 
as  they  did  and  having  friends  every- 
where in  that  section  it  became  a 
very  difficult  matter  to  get  near  them 


in  sufficient  force  to  do  fheni  any 
damage. 

One  evening  in  .Tuly,  while  I  was 
writing  a  letter  home,  I  was  inter- 
rupted by  a  report  that  the  enemy 
was  approaching  us  in  force.  The 
next  night  the  letter  was  resumed 
as  follows:  "Was  compelled  to  stop 
writing  last  evening.  Was  left  in 
command  of  the  post  yesterday.  In 
the  morning  I  sent  out  a  company 
of  cavalry  on  a  scout.  They  were 
gone  all  day  and  returned  at  night. 
They  did  not  see  any  Rebs,  but 
Lieutenant  Tisdale  of  Co.  A  was  out 
alone  and  the  citizens  told  him  that 
there  were  fifteen  guerrillas  lying  in 
wait  for  him  when  he  returned.  I 
sent  out  about  a  dozen  of  my  own 
company  after  them  and  fully  ex- 
pected a  skirmish  before  morning, 
but   the   Secesh   could   not   be  found. 

I  will  tell  you  how  I  spend  my 
evenings  now.  I  have  built  a  house 
12x12,  one  story  high  out  of  shakes 
as  they  call  them  down  here.  They 
are  oak  shingles  about  four  feet  long 
and  ten  inches  wide.  My  windows 
are  made  of  canvass.  I  have  a  good 
porch  in  front  which  keeps  the  sun 
off.  If  you  could  take  a  peep  some 
evening  you  would  see  me  very  busi- 
ly engaged  studying  phonography. 
I  sent  to  Cincinnati  for  a  phono- 
graphic work  which  I  am  diligently 
studying  every  evening.  So  you  see 
I  am  not  idle,  nor  is  my  time  spent 
without  profiit.  There  are  just  fifty 
men  in  the  company  now  and  three 
commissioned  officers.  We  have  for- 
ty present   and  fit  for  duty." 

During  the  period  of  our  detached 
service  at  Smith's  Bridge  we  made 
a  good  many  friends  among  the  citi- 
zens, with  whom  we  exchanged  salt, 
coffee,  sugar  and  such  other  eatables 
as  we  could  spare  for  butter,  eggs 
and    fruits,    which    was    an    arrange- 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


in 


:iiieilt  iiuitually  helpful.  The  young 
people  were  especially  kind  to  us, 
for  we  had  treated  them  with  con- 
sideration. -A  certain  young  lady 
whom  I  will  call  Jane  Brown  be- 
cause   that    was    not    her    name,    was 

.a  person  of  superior  attainments 
whose  home  was  nearly  two  niiles 
from  the  Bridge  and  whose  father 
was  a  repute'd  guerrilla  chieftain, 
was  said  to  have  become  a  convert 
to  the  cause  of  >the  Union.  At  the 
time  of  our  going  to  the  Bridge  she 
was  an  acknowledged  rebel  and  was 
repoiited  to  be  a  spy  of  much  ability. 
It  was  said  that  the  troops  who  had 
preceeded  us  at  the  Bridge  had  just 

ithen  joined  the  forces  at  Corinth 
and  were  "disposed  to  deal  harshly 
with  the  citizens  of  rebel  sympa- 
thies, in  consequence  of  which  they 
suceeded  in  getting  themselves 
thoroughly    disliked.      It     was      said 

'that  a  squad  of  those  new  comers 
went  to  the  guerrilla  chieftain's 
home  and  broke  open  the  smoke 
house,  from  which  they  tried  to  car- 
ry off  some  choice  hams  and  should- 
ers, but  Miss  Jane  was  not  to  be 
robbed  without  making  a  Spartan 
defense  of  her  property.  While 
her  mother  was  bewailing  their  loss 
in  loud  lamentations.  Miss  Jane, 
armed  with  an  old  fas.hioned  mop 
stick,  charged  the  would  be  ham 
stealers  with  great  dash  and  spirit, 
beating  them  over  the  head  and 
shoulders  with  such  energy  as  to 
cause  them  to  make  an  inglorious 
retreat.  Of  course  she  became  very 
popular  after  that,  while  the  ham- 
stealers  never  ceased  to  hear  about 
their  repulse  as  long  as  they  remain- 
ed in  the  vicinity.  Over  two  years 
in  active  service  had  taught  us  many 
things,  not  the  least  of  which  was 
that  unnecessary  harshness  toward 
our   enemies  -should    be   avoided    and 


a  .spirit  of  conciliation  .and  kindness 
exercised  toward  all  non-combatants 
whenever  it  could  be  done  without 
prejudice  to  our  cause.  Assuming 
this  attitude  toward  the  non-combat- 
ants around  Smith's  Bridge,  made  us 
many  friends,  and  no  doubt  saved  us 
some  lives. 

A  few  days  before  our  departure 
from  the  Bridge  for  La  Grange,  Ten- 
nessee, where  we  were  ordered  to 
rejoin  the  regiment,  a  twenty  days' 
leave  of  absence  was  given  me  and 
I  went  home  for  a  brief  visit  among 
my  friends.  The  boys  had  a  great 
time  on  the  evening  of  their  depart- 
ure from  Smith's  Bridge,  for  on  the 
day  they  left  the  citizens  came  in 
from  every  direction  and  such  a  time 
they  had  not  seen  -since  Co.  I  left 
Lyons.  The  girls  were  all  crying 
while  the  men  and  boys  acted  as 
though  they  were  about  to  part  with 
their  dearest  friends  forever.  The 
camp  was  literally  filled  w'ith  citi- 
zens who  came  to  say  "goodbye."  As 
an  instance  of  the  forlorn  feeling 
pervading  the  camp,  one  young  lady 
who  had  been  doing  the  washing  for 
the  officers  was  particiilarly  demon- 
strative. Lieutenant  Conway  tried  to 
console  her;  telling  her  he  would 
send  the  money  for  the  washing  as 
soon  as  we  were  paid  off.  Then 
the  poor  girl  broke  down  entirely. 
She  told  him  it  was  not  the  money 
for  the  washing  she  was  concerned 
about,  he  might  keep  that  if  the 
soldiers  woilld  only  stay  at  the 
Bridge,  "For  if  you  remain  here," 
she  said,  "we  know  we  shall  be  well 
treated,  but  if  you  go  away  and 
others  come  in  your  place,  it  may 
not  be  well  with  us."  This  feeling 
shared  by  nearly  all  the  citizens 
in  the  vicinity.  Secessionists  as  well 
as  Unionists,  had  its  influence  on  our 
boys,  who  were  loath  to  depart  from 


THE   SIMPLE   LIFE  OF  A  COMMOXEK 


among  a  people  many  of  whom  had 
shown  such  a  friendly  feeling  toward 
them. 

The  time  at  home  passed  very 
speedily,  as  may  well  be  imagined. 
It  was  without  any  marked  incident 
until  the  moment  arrived  for  me  to 
take  my  departure  for  the  front.  I 
had  been  home  twice  before  on  sick 
leave,  once  from  Bird's  Point,  Mis- 
souri and  next  from  Mound  City, 
Illinois,  hospital.  On  both  occasions 
when  I  said  goodbye  to  my  father, 
he  manifested  no  unusual  emotion, 
simply  advising  me  to  do  my  duty 
as  a  soldier  and  saying  such  things 
as  a  father  naturally  would  under 
such  circumstances.  But  on  this  oc- 
casion as  the  time  of  my  departure 
drew  near  he  became  greatly  de- 
pressed in  spirit,  looking  at  me  with 
a  tenderness  and  a  longing  which 
greatly  impressed  and  moved  me. 
To  this  day  I  can  see  him  as  he  ap- 
peared to  me  then.  He  not  only 
went  with  me  down  to  the  river 
where  I  took  the  ferry  to  cross  over 
to  Illinois,  as  he  had  done  before, 
hut  he  seemed  loath  to  leave  me, 
crossing  the  river  and  going  aboard 
the  oar  with  me.  Then  he  broke 
down  completely  and  throwing  his 
arms  around  my  neck,  with  the 
tears  streaming  down  his  cheeks,  he 
said,  "O,  Harry,  my  boy,  I  shall  nev- 
er see  you  again;  I  am  parting  with 
you  forever."  "Why  father,"  I  said, 
thinking  he  feared  the  dangers  to 
which  I  was  exposed,  "1  have  no  fear 
of  being  killed,  and  will  return 
home  again  safe  and  sound  when 
my  time  is  out  or  when  the  war  is 
over."  "I  don't  know,"  he  replied 
"but  I  feel  certain  I  shall  never  see 
you  again."  There  were  a  large 
number  of  passengers  on  the  car  who 
witnessed  it  all,  but  there  was  not 
a    dry   eye  among   them.      My  father 


was  right.  I  never  saw  him  again. 
He  met  with  death  by  accident  the 
following  winter,  while  in  the  dis- 
charge of  his  duty.  After  parting 
with  him  in  this  pathetic  manner,  1 
proceded  by  rail  to  Cairo,  Illinois, 
and  from  there  to  La  Grange,  Ten- 
nessee, where  I  rejoined  the  regi- 
ment. From  that  place  I  addressed 
a  letter  home,  from  which  I  make  a 
few  brief  extracts: 

La  Grange,  Tenn.,  Sept.  .">,  \S6?,. 
"My  dear   M:  — 

I  have  at  last  reached  my  destina- 
tion, leaving  Lyons  on  Monday  and 
arriving  here  yesterday  noon.  I 
spent  one  day  in  Cairo  and  one  day 
and  two  nights  in  Memphis,  stopping 
at  the  Gaycso  House,  an  old  hostelry 
of  considerable  repute.  1  had  regis- 
tered my  name  and  retired  for  the 
night,  when  who  should  walk  into 
my  room  but  Lieutenant  Joe  Con- 
way, who  came  up  to  my  bed  and 
pulled  me  out.  We  had  a  good  old 
time  that  night,  as  you  may  well 
believe.  He  had  come  up  to  Mem- 
phis to   draw   his  pay. 

Sept.    6th. 

Yesterday  I  was  compelled  to  stop 
writing  very  suddenly,  an  order  hav- 
ing come  for  me  to  take  thirty  men 
and  go  to  Collierville  to  guard  the 
paymaster.  We  returned  today, 
having  stayed  at  Collierville  through 
the  night.  1  had  over  one  and  a 
half  million  dollars  in  my  care;  a 
good  time  to  run  away,  eh  I  *  *  *  * 
The  Chaplain  of  the  First  Tennessee 
(colored)  preaches  to  us  this  after- 
noon. We  have  two  negro  regiments 
here,  the  First  and  Second  Tennes- 
see. Our  boys  seem  to  delight  in 
having  fun  with  them,  but  the  Afri- 
cans are  very  patient,  and  do  not 
say  much.  I.,a  Grange  is  quite  a 
pretty  little  place,  about  the  size  of 
Clinton,    though    very    little   business 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


H»» 


is  done  here  now.  I  acknowledge 
with  thanks  the  receipt  of  that  little 
llower.  There  are  uio  flowers  here 
at  present,  so  I  miss  my  boquet.  I 
used  to  get  one  quite  often  at  the 
Bridge." 

It  was  during  our  encampment  at 
La  Grange  that  a  letter  was  written 
and  a  response  received  which  fixed 
the  domestic  destiny  of  all  the  after- 
life of  two  persons  at  least.  I  shall 
not  reproduce  its  contents  here,  for 
I  hold  with  another,  that  next  in  sac- 
redness  to  heaven — inspired  words 
are  human  love  letters,  and  those 
who  read  the  love  letters  of  another 
commit  a  sacrilege.  So  on  principle, 
I  withhold  the  opportunity  in  these 
writings  and  thus  remove  the  temp- 
taticn  from  all  eyes.  I  need  only 
say  that  these  letters  contained  an 
abundance  of  such  ardent  expres- 
sions as  lovers  have  been  using  and 
writing  to  each  other,  the  world  over 
from  time  immemorial,  and  will  con- 
tinue to  say  and  write  as  long  as  the 
world  stands. 

On  the  first  of  November  the  Sec- 
ond and  Fourth  divisions  of  the  Six- 
teenth Army  Corps  under  command 
of  General  G.  M.  Dodge  left  La 
Grange  and  moved  eastward  toward 
Chattanooga,  forming  the  rear  guard 
of  General  Sherman's  Army  of  the 
Tennessee.  As  fortune  would  have 
it  we  did  not  get  to  Chattanooga  for 
the  campaigns  about  that  city,  hav- 
ing been  ordered  by  General  Grant 
to  another  service,  to  which  he  re- 
fers in  his  memoirs  as  follows: 

"Sherman's  force  made  an  addi- 
tional army  with  cavalry,  artillery 
and  trains,  all  to  be  supplied  by  the 
single  track  road  from  Nashville. 
All  indications  pointed  also  to  the 
probable  necessity  of  supplying 
Burnside's  command  in  eastern  Ten- 
nessee,  twenty-five  thousand   men   by 


the  same  route.  A  singh'  tracli  could 
not  do  this.  1  gave,  therefore,  an 
order  to  Sherman  to  halt  General 
(L  M.  Dodge's  command  of  about 
eight  thousand  men  at  Athens,  and 
subsequently  directed  the  latter  to 
arrange  his  troops  along  the  railroad 
from  Decatur  north  towards  Nash- 
ville, and  to  rebuild  that  road.  The 
road  from  Nashville  to  Decatur 
passes  over  a  broken  country,  cut  up 
with  innumerable  streams,  many  of 
them  of  considerable  width,  and 
with  valleys  far  below  the  road-bed. 
All  the  bridges  over  these  had  been 
destroyed,  and  the  rails  taken  up 
and  twisted  by  the  enemy.  All  the 
cars  and  locomotives  not  carried  off 
had  been  destroyed  as  effectually  as 
they  knew  how  to  destroy  them.  All 
bridges  and  culverts  had  been  des- 
troyed between  Nashville  and  Deca- 
tur, and  thence  to  Stevenson,  where 
the  Memphis  and  Charleston  and  the 
Nashville  and  Chattanooga  roads 
unite.  The  rebuilding  of  this  road 
would  give  us  two  roads  as  far  as 
Stevenson  over  which  to  supply  the 
army.  From  Bridgeport,  a  short  dis- 
tance farther  east,  the  river  supple- 
ments the  road.  General  Dodge,  be- 
sides being  a  most  capable  soldier, 
was  an  experienced  railroad  builder. 
He  had  no  tools  to  work  with  except 
those  of  the  pioneers — axes,  picks 
and  spades.  With  these  he  was  able 
to  intrench  his  men  and  protect 
them  against  surprises  by  small  par- 
ties of  the  enemy.  As  he  had  no 
base  of  supplies  until  tlie  road  could 
be  completed  back  to  Nashville  the 
first  matter  to  consider  after  pro- 
tecting his  men  was  the  getting  in 
of  food  and  forage  from  the  sur- 
rounding country.  He  had  his  men 
and  teams  bring  in  all  the  grain 
they  could  find,  or  all  they  needed 
and  all  the  cattle  for  beef,  and  such 


110(» 


THE   SBIPT.E  TJTFR  OF  A  CO?iniONRTi 


other  food  as  could  be  found.  Mill- 
ers were  detailed  from  the  ranks  to 
run  the  mills  along  the  line  of  the 
army.  When  these  were  not  near 
tenough  to  the  ,troops  for  protection, 
.they  were  taken  down  and  moved  up 
,the  line  of  the  road.  Blacksmith 
shops,  with  a;il  the  ^iron  and  steel 
found  in  them,  were  moved  up  in 
like  manner.  Blacksmtths  were  de- 
tailed and  set  to  work  making  the 
tools  necessary  in  railroad  and 
bridge  :building.  Axemen  were  put 
to  work  getting  out  timber  for 
bridges  and  cutting  fuel  for  loco- 
motives when  the  road  should  be 
completed.  Car-bviildeps  were  set  to 
work  repairing  the  locomotives  and 
.cars.  Thus  every  branch  of  raiilroad 
building,  making  tools  ,to  work  with, 
and  supplying  the  workmen  with 
food,  was  all  going  on  at  once,  and 
without  the  aid  of  a  mechanic  or 
laborer  except  what  the  command  it- 
self furnished.  But  rails  and  cars 
the  men  could  not  make  without  ma- 
terial, and  there  was  not  enough 
rolling  stock  to  keep  the  road  we  al- 
ready had  worked  to  its  full  capac- 
ity. There  were  no  rails  except 
those  in  use.  To  supply  these  de- 
ticiencies  I  ordered  eight  of  the  ten 
engines  Genera:!  McPherson  had  at 
Vicksburg  to  be  sent  to  Nashville, 
and  all  the  cars  he  had  except  ten. 
I  also  ordered  the  troops  in  West 
Tennessee  to  points  on  the  river  and 
on  the  Memphis  and  Charleston 
road,  and  ordered  the  cars,  locomo- 
tives and  rails  from  all  the  railroads 
except  the  Memphis  and  Charleston 
to  Nashville.  The  military  manager 
of  railroads  also  was  directed  to  fur- 
nish more  rolling  stock,  and,  as  far 
as  he  could,  bridge  material.  Gen- 
eral Dodge  had  the  work  assigned 
him  finished  within  forty  days  after 
Teceiving    his    orders.       The    number 


of  bridges  to  rebuild  was  one  huit- 
dred  and  eighty-two,  many  of  them 
over  deep  and  wide  chasms.  The 
length  of  the  road  repaired  was  one 
hundred  and  two  miles." 

When  General  Dodge  received 
these  orders  from  General  Grant  he 
made  his  headquarters  at  Pulaski, 
Tennessee,  seventy  miles  south  of 
Nashville.  My  first  letter  from  Pul- 
aski was  written  Nov.  19,  1863,  and 
among  other  things  which  were  of  a 
purely  personal  character,  ran  as  fol- 
lows: "On  the  31st  of  October  our 
brigade  left  La  Grange  and  went  di- 
rect to  luka,  Mississippi,  on  the  cars. 
We  stayed  there  three  days  waiting 
for  the  main  body  to  come  up.  I  did 
not  leave  our  camp  with  the  regi- 
ment, having  been  ordered  to  re- 
main at  La  Grange  in  command  of 
the  rear  guard  and  follow  the  army 
as  soon  as  everything  was  in  readi- 
ness. Unfortunately,  on  one  of  the 
tra;ins  which  carried  the  troops  there 
had  been  Ibaded  a  few  barrels  of 
whiskey  belonging  to  the  commis- 
sary and  medical  departments.  Some 
of  the  members  of  my  company 
which,  for  the  time  being  was  under 
command  of  Lieutenant  Langford, 
discovered  the  liquor  and  at  once  de- 
termined to  appropriate  it  to  their 
own  use.  So  they  managed  to  get 
possession  of  a  small  gimlet,  and 
boring  a  hole  in  one  of  the  barrels, 
inserted  a  goose  quill  or  pipe  stem 
and  drew  off  enough  to  fill  their  can- 
teens, then  carefully  plugging  up 
the  hole  they  proceded  to  imbibe 
the  stuff,  which  by  the  time  luka 
was  reached,  began  to  get  in  its 
work.  As  a  matter  of  fact  several  of 
the  boys  were  soon  riotously  drunk 
and  some  of  them  in  a  very  ugly 
humor.  I  had  no  sooner  reached  my 
tent  than  the  Colonel  sent  for  me, 
demanding     an      explanation,     which 


THE  sniPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


lol 


when  made,  of  course  satisfied  him 
that  I  was  in  no  sense  responsible 
tor  the  disgraceful  occurrence.  Re- 
turning to  the  company  quarters  I 
called  for  Sergeant  Sloan  and  with 
'him  went  through  every  tent,  secur- 
ing the  canteens  which  contained 
whiskey  and  quietly  poured  the  stuff 
out  on  the  ground.  One  or  two  of 
the  ugliest  of  the  boys,  while  not 
daring  to  physically  resist,  neverthe- 
less threatened  me  with  what  would 
be  done  to  me  when  we  got  into 
battle  again,  but  it  was  only  the 
\aporings  of  a  drunken  man,  to 
which  no  attention  was  paid,  and 
the  next  day  they  and  others  man- 
fully apologized  for  their  conduct, 
and  ncthing  more  was  ever  said  or 
thought  of  it. 

Sergeant  L.  T.  Sloan  was  one  of 
the  best  men  I  ever  knew.  From 
my  earliest  knowledge  of  him  as  a 
boy  at  Lyons,  where  we  were  inti- 
mate with  each  other,  I  have  ever 
remembered  him  as  a  choice  spirit, 
thoroughly  clean  and  trustworthy  in 
every  way,  a  soldier  and  citizen 
alike.  He  has  never  failed  to  com- 
mand   the   respect    of   his   associates. 

After  the  balance  of  the  division 
had  reached  luka,  the  expedition, 
which  composed  the  left  wing  of  the 
Sixteenth  Army  Corps  under  com- 
mand cf  Major  General  G.  M.  Dodge, 
who  had  eirrered  the  service  as  Col- 
onel of  'the;  Fourth  Iowa  Infantry, 
started  for  Chattanooga  as  we 
thought.  We  crossed  the  Tennessee 
river  at  Eastport  on  transports,  our 
regiment  crossing  about  midnight. 
We  remained  on  the  east  side  until 
7:00  o'clock  next  morning  and  then 
began  a  long  march,  passing  through 
Waterloo,  Lauderdale  and  several 
other  towns,  the  names  of  which  I 
have  forgotten.  The  natives  in  that 
section  were  nearly  all  Secessionists. 


The  country  in  that  vicinity  would 
be  considered  rathei'  poor,  estimated 
from  an  Iowa  standpoint,  but  it  was 
watered  by  some  very  beautiful 
streams,  and  possessed  many  other 
redeeming  qualities.  We  arrived  at 
Pulaski  on  the  11  th  inst.  and  the 
next  day  our  regiment  with  the 
Twelfth  Illinois  was  detailed  to  act 
as  convoy  to  a  train  of  two  hundred 
and  forty  wagons,  w-hich  were  sent 
to  Columbia  under  command  of  Col- 
onel .J.  B.  Weaver  after  supplies,  re- 
turning last  night  after  an  absence 
of  seven  days.  The  country  between 
Pulas.ki  and  Nashville  is  one  of  the 
finest  I  have  seen  in  the  South  and 
the  people  appear  to  be  quite  gener- 
ally loyal,  which  makes  it  seem 
more  like  home  than  any  place  I 
have   seen   since   leaving   Iowa." 

We  camped  near  the  house  where 
General  Van  Dorn  was  shot  and 
killed   by   Dr.    Peters. 

CHAPTER    XVI. 

We  camped  near  the  house  where 
General  Van  Dorn  was  shot  and  kill- 
ed by  Dr.  Peters.  This  General  Van 
Dorn  was  the  commander  of  the 
Rebel  forces  that  made  the  attack  on 
Corinth  in  the  fall  of  1862.  He  was 
one  of  the  greatest  soldiers  in  the 
Confederate  army.  At  the  time  of 
his  murder,  w^hich  occurred  in 
March,  18  63,  a  body  of  Rebels  under 
his  command  were  cam,ped  near 
Franklin,  a  town  between  Nashville 
and  Columbia  and  were  watching  a 
brigade  of  Federals  located  in  that 
vicinity. 

It  appears  that  a  Confederate 
Lieutenant  had  asked  General  Van 
Dorn  for  a  pass  through  the  lines, 
that  he  might  visit  the  home  of  a 
young  lady  in  the  neighborhood.  The 
General  refused  his  request,  where- 
upon   the    T^ieutenant    went     to      his 


Ktii 


THE  SIMPT.E  I.TFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


quarters  and  later  made  his  way 
through  the  lines  without  a  pass, 
proceeding  directly  to  the  home  of 
the  young  lady,  where  he  encounter- 
ed General  Van  Dorn  himself.  Van 
Dorn  was  no  sooner  aware  of  the 
Lieutenant's  presence  than  he  flew 
into  a  rage,  demanding  why  he  had 
come  there.  The  Lieuitenant,  Dr. 
Peters,  thoug:ht  he  had  as  good  a 
right  there  as  General  Van  Dorn. 
Hot  words  immediately  followed, 
with  the  result  that  Dr.  Peters  final- 
ly drew  his  revolver  and  shot  the 
General,  killing  him  instantly.  The 
body  was  taiken  through  the  Union 
lines  under  a  flag  of  truce  to  Nash- 
ville, where  it  was  buried.  The  tra- 
gic death  of  Va.n  Dorn  was  but  one 
of  the  many  unfortunate  occurrences 
which  are  the  inevitable  inheritances 
of  war. 

And  now  I  will  again  take  up  the 
letter  which  I  had  laid  aside  for  the 
iiiOnient  to  set  down  this  explana- 
tion. "The  railroad  is  operated  from 
Nashville  to  Columbia,  a  distance  of 
about  forty  miles.  Our  business  is 
to  finish  it  through  to  Decatur,  Ala- 
bama, so  that  supplies  can  be  for- 
warded to  Sherman's  and  Hooker's 
armies.  It  is  the  opinion  of  those 
who  are  best  informed  that  it  will 
require  about  three  weeks  to  com- 
plete it  from  Columbia  to  Pulaski. 
I  have  no  idea  what  service  we  will 
be  called  upon  to  render  after  that 
has  been  done,  but  possibly  we  may 
serve  as  a  reserve  to  Sherman. 

Pulaski  is  a  very  pretty  place,  and 
is  about  the  size  of  Lyooas.  There 
was  formerly  a  female  seminary  here 
in  full  blast,  but  when  we  arrived  it 
was  discontinued  and  the  building  is 
now  used  as  a  hospital.  Most  of  the 
residences  are  surrounded  with  ever- 
greens and  present  a  beautiful  ap- 
pearance.     Inclosed    find    a    leaf     of 


magnolia,  I  think  it  does  not  grow 
in  the  North.  There  are  many  flow- 
ers here  in  full  bloom;  it  is  like  May 
in  Iowa.  We  are  about  one  hundred 
and  ninety  miles  from  Memphis  and 
seventy-five     miles     from     Nashville. 

Now  I  think  if  you  could  look  in- 
to my  tent  you  would  have  a  good 
laugh  at  my  expense.  The  tent  is 
about  six  feet  square  and  about  five 
feet  high.  For  the  want  of  a  bed- 
stead our  blankets  are  spread  on  the 
ground  and  for  the  want  of  a  table 
Lieutenant  Langford  and  myself  are 
writing  on  our  trunks.  On  one  side 
of  the  tent  is  lying  in  rich  profusion 
coats,  candles,  a  chair,  ouv  swords, 
a  knapsack,  two  or  three  pair  of 
boots,  a  canteen,  two  pair  of  gloves, 
a  table  cloth,  a  looking  glass,  a 
broom,  two  old  hats  and  a  variety 
of  other  things  which  I  need  not 
name.  .Just  behind  the  tent  are  a 
couple  of  young,  unbleached  Ameri- 
cans, singing  and  telling  each  other 
stories  as  happy  as  they  can  be. 
"Billy,"  my  boy,  has  just  joined 
them.  He  is  Major  General  of  all 
the  young  darkies  in  the  camp.  They 
congregate  around  my  tent  and  gen- 
erally stay  there,  serenading  me,  un- 
til I  have  to  go  out  and  drive  them 
off. 

I  am  decidedly  in  favor  of  the 
president's  proclamation.  It  is  made 
for  the  purpose  of  raising  troops  to 
fill  the  places  of  those  mustered  out 
next  spring.  Keep  up  your  spirits, 
for  I  think  we  have  great  cause  to 
rejoice  at  the  success  of  the  Federal 
arms  so  far.  The  war  must  go  on 
till  the  last  armed  Rebel  is  con- 
quered. *  *  *  *  It  is  the  duty 
of  every  American  citizen  to  stand 
by  his  country  in  adversity  as  well 
as  in  prosperity,  and  any  one  who 
will  not  do  this  is  unworthy  of  the 
name  of  an  American      This  is  a  war 


THE  SIM  PI. K  T.IFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


10?, 


lor  Cod  and  humanity,  a  war  for 
human  freedom.  The  world  has  nev~ 
er  witnessed  a  war  of  such  vast  im- 
portance to  humanity.  Why,  it  were 
better  to  spill  every  drop  of  blood 
on  this  continent  than  that  the  re- 
bellion should  succeed." 

The  winter  of  1863-64  is  said  by 
the  natives  to  have  been  one  of  the 
coldest  ever  experienced  in  the 
South.  At  Pulaski  the  streams  froze 
over  so  that  ice  formed  of  sufficient 
thickness  to  bear  a  heavy  weight  and 
was  improved  by  the  soldiers,  who 
delighted  to  sport  themselves  there- 
on. Of  course  the  extreme  cold  was 
laid  at  the  door  of  the  Yankees,  who 
were  said  by  the  so'ithem  people  to 
produce  a  chill  wherever  they  went, 
though  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  they 
sometimes  made  it  warm  enough 
even  for  the  hot  blooded  southern- 
ers. During  our  stay  at  this  place 
the  monotony  of  camp  life  was  brok- 
en occaiS'ionally  by  a  ball  game  be- 
tween the  Fifty-second  Illinois  and 
the  Second  Iowa.  A  select  number 
of  players  were  chosen  from  each 
regiment  and  under  rules  which 
were  made  for  the  occasion,  the  boys 
"got  into  the  game."  I  remembei- 
those  games  the  more  clearly  for 
having  been  an  active  participant  on 
the  side  of  the  Second  Iowa.  It  was 
my  part  to  play  the  important  role 
of  catcher  for  our  side,  which  I  did 
to  my  own  satisfaction  at  least,  for 
if  no  other  honors  accrued  to  me, 
there  is  at  least  one  which  can  nev- 
er be  taken  from  me.  I  carry  to 
this  day  a  broken  finger  on  my  left 
hand,  received  in  one  of  those  en- 
gagements at  Pulaski:  an  honorable 
scar  caused  by  the  impact  from  a 
pitched  ball,  which  I  could  not  fairly 
guage  on  account  of  the  sun  which 
shone  in  my  eyes  causing  a  tempor- 
ary blindness.    Many  years  afterward 


in  an  address  at  New  Hampton, 
Iowa,  I  took  occasion  to  speak  in  an 
incidental  way  of  those  ball  ga.mes 
so  many  years  before,  when  to  my 
astonishment,  at  the  close  of  the 
address,  a  gentleman  in  the  audiience 
stepped  up  to  me  and  said:  "I  was 
very  much  interested  in  your  account 
of  those  ball  games  at  Pulaski,  for 
I  was  the  catcher  for  the  Fifty-sec- 
ond Illinois."  Then  I  showed  him 
my  finger  and  we  enjoyed  a  good 
laugh  together  over  the  crudities  of 
those  undisciplined  ball  games  in 
1863. 

And  now  I  come  to  an  event  which 
plunged  our  family  into  the  depths 
of  a  great  sorrow;  a  sad  tragedy 
wihich  to  this  very  day  I  cannot  re- 
call without  a  deep  feeling  of  chas- 
tened grief,  although  it  occurred  so 
long  ago.  One  afternoon  toward  the 
end  of  December,  186?.,  a  member  of 
the  company  came  to  my  tent  with 
a  copy  of  the  Lyons  Mirror,  a  news- 
paper published  in  our  town,  w^hich 
he  quietly  placed  in  my  hands  and 
left  the  tent  without  a  word.  Upon 
opening  the  paper,  my  attention  was 
at  once  directed  to  a  column  an- 
nouncing the  death  of  my  father, 
and  containing  a  lengthy  account  of 
the  painful  manner  in  which  it  had 
come    about. 

My  father,  who  possessed  but  lit- 
tle of  this  world's  goods,  had,  in 
the  absence  of  anything  better,  been 
employed  during  part  of  the  winter 
as  night  watchman  at  a  distillery 
owned  and  operated  by  a  man  of 
the  name  of  Hawn,  wiho  was  a  Ken- 
tuckyian,  but  who  had  been  a  resi- 
dent of  Iowa  for  some  years.  It  was 
the  watchman's  business  to  guard 
the  property  from  the  time  of  the 
night  closing  to  the  morning  open- 
ing when  the  business  of  the  day 
began.      One   bitterly  cold    night   be- 


1(»4 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


tween  Christmas  and  New  Years  of 
that  memorable  winter,  the  wind  was 
sweeping  down  the  Mississippi  river 
filling  the  air  with  fine  particles  of 
ice  and  snow,  making  it  almost  im- 
possible to  keeip  one's  footing  on 
level,  unobstructed  ground,  and  real- 
ly perilous  for  any  one  to  be  out 
in  the  storm.  Sometime  during  the 
night  my  father,  as  was  his  custom, 
was  passing  ovei-  some  planks  laid 
across  large  vats  which  were  nearly 
filled  with  hot  oil  and  liquid  refuse 
from  the  distillery.  He  had  always 
been  very  careful  when  passing  over 
those  dangerous  planks,  knowing 
full  well  that  his  feet  were  liable  to 
slip  at  any  moment  on  their  oily  sur- 
face, and  so  he  would  carefully  make 
his  way  over  them  each  night  by  the 
light  of  his  lantern.  On  the  night 
in  question,  as  he  was  making  his 
rounas  as  usual,  the  light  of  his  lan- 
tern was  suddenly  extinguished  by  a 
gust  of  wind  amd  he  was  left  upon 
those  dangerous  planks  in  uttei> 
darkness.  Almost  instantly  his  feet 
slipped  from  under  him  and  he  was 
precipitated  into  the  hot  oil  below. 
In  falling  his  hands  caught  on  the 
side  of  the  vat  and  though  he  was 
buried  in  the  oil  nearly  up  to  his 
neck,  he  had  just  strength  enough 
to  drag  himself  up  and  over  the  side 
of  the  vat,'  falling  out  upon  "the 
frozen  ground,  where  he  lay  uncon- 
scious until  the  engineer — the  same 
man  who  had  come  to  my  relief 
when  I  was  watching  at  the  Stum- 
baugh  sawmill  a  few  years  earlier — 
found  him  in  the  morning.  Mr.  Al- 
ban  immediately  gave  the  alarm  and 
he  was  taken  home  at  once,  where 
everything  was  done  for  him  that 
skill  and  love  could  suggest.  He 
lived  nearly  four  days,  most  of  the 
time  quite  conscious,  suffering  great 
agony,    scalded    and    frozen     as     the 


flesh  was,  it  would  fall  from  his 
body,  as  it  continued  to  do  until  he 
died.  He  was  a  good  man  and  had 
great  reverence  for  hoiy  things, 
though,  to  the  best  of  my  recollec- 
tion he  was  never  connected  with 
any  branch  of  the  Christian  church. 
He  was  a  constant  reader  of  the 
Bible  and  had  a  profound  knowledge 
of  its  contents.  Thus  in  the  fifty- 
fourth  year  of  his  life  Samuel  Green 
passed  away,  who  for  the  preceding- 
ten  years  as  a  resident  of  Lyons,  had 
been  recognized  by  his  neighbors  us 
"A  man  among  men." 

Upon  reading  the  account  of  his 
death  in  the  Mirror  I  immediately 
applied  for  a  leave  of  absence  that 
I  might  go  home  to  attend  the  fun- 
eral. To  obtain  a  furlough  which 
is  given  to  ncn-commissioned  officers 
and  enlisted  men,  or  a  leave  of  ab- 
sence, given  to  commissioned  officers, 
certain  formulas  required  by  the  reg- 
ulations must  be  '  conformed  with. 
In  my  application  I  followed  the  re- 
quired routine,  but  was  unceremon- 
iously turned  down  by  General  Swee- 
ney at  division  headquartfers.  Noth- 
ing daunted  however,  I  took  my  pa- 
pers and  went  over  to  General 
Dodge's  quarters,  determined  to  see 
him  in  person  and  explain  my  earn- 
est desire  to  go  home  for  a  few  days. 
The  guard  en  duty  poiitely  but  posi- 
tively refused  to  give  me  access  to 
General  Dodge,  stating  that  the  Gen- 
eral was  very  busy  just  then  and 
could  not  be  disturbed  on  any  ac- 
count. Of  course  I  persisted,  but 
could  not  induce  the  man  to  yield. 
Finally  in  despair  for  precious  time 
v.'as  being  wasted,  I  took  the  Mirror 
from  my  pocket  and  calling  for  the 
Orderly,  requested  him  to  take  it  in 
to  General  Dodge  and  tell  him  how 
desirous  I  was  to  see  him.  In  a 
very  few  minutes  I  was  called  in  and 


THE  SIMPLE  TJFE  OF  A   CO:\IMONER 


105 


General  Dodge  with  a  kindly  syni- 
patliy  that  touched  me  deeply,  after 
inquiring  more  particularly  about 
my  father  and  our  home,  said: 
■'Well,  Captain,  we  are  not  granting 
many  leaves  just  now,  but  you  may 
go  to  your  quarters  and  I  will  im- 
mediately wire  Sherman  for  you." 
Before  dark  I  had  my  leave  and 
started  for  home.  My  first  Lieuten- 
ant, J.  F.  Conway,  who  at  the  time 
was  temporarily  attached  to  the 
staff  of  Brigadier  General  E.  W. 
Rice,  procured  two  horses  and  to- 
gether we. set  out  for  Columbia, 
where  I  took  the  cars  for  Nashville; 
arriving  at  that  place  I  went  directly 
lo  a  hotel  and  engaged  a  cot  for  the 
night.  The  rooms  were  all  occupied 
and  the  train  for  Louisville  did  not 
leave  until  the  next  morning  at  eight 
o'clock.  The  colored  boy  who  made 
ready  my  cot  and  was  to  have  awak- 
ened me  in  time  for  breakfast  and 
the  train,  either  forgot  to  do  so,  or, 
as  he  insisted,  "Ah  shook  yo  sah,  an 
yo  ans'd  me,  so  Ah  thought  yo  was 
awake  fo  sho."  It  was  vei-y  annoy- 
ing as  it  caused  me  to  waste  an  en- 
tire day  and  my  leave  was  only  for 
twenty  days.  The  next  morning, 
however,  I  got  away  and  in  due 
time  reached  home,  but  alas,  too 
late  to  see  my  father  who  had  been 
buried  two  days  before. 

The  few  days  at  home  were  soon 
expended  among  friends  and  rela- 
tives and  once  more  my  eyes  were 
turned  southward.  A  little  incident 
occurred  on  the  train  near  Louisville 
which  never  fails  to  give  me  pleas^ 
ure  whenever  I  recall  it,  and  at  the 
same  time  admonishes  me  of  the 
folly  of  blotting  from  memory  the 
past  events  in  our  lives  or  of  brush- 
ing them  aside  as  things  of  little 
consequence  in  the  more  engrossing 
matters  of  the  present.      The  things 


that  we  may  have  said  oi-  done  in 
all  the  years  of  the  pas;t  are  not 
alone  the  heritage  we  leave  to  our 
families  and  to  general  posterity, 
they  should  also  be  ever  present, 
abiding  incentives  to  the  joyful  per- 
formance of  daily  good,  for  we  can 
neither  call  to  mind  the  pleasant 
things  strewn  along  life's  pathway  or 
live  over  again  the  happier  moments 
of  years  long  gone  by  without  being 
the  taller  and  richer  for  the  experi- 
ence. 

When  the  train  pulled  out  of 
Louisville  every  seat  was  occupied 
and  even  the  aisles  were  filled  with 
passengers  who  were  unable  to  ob- 
tain seats.  There  was  an  immense 
amount  of  going  to  and  fro  in  the 
border  states  during  the  war,  and 
the  carrying  capacity  of  the  railroads 
in  those  sections  was  wholly  in- 
adequate to  meet  the  demands  made 
upon  them.  I  had  fortunately  ob- 
tained a  seat  sometime  before  the 
train  left  the  Louisville  depot,  so  I 
felt  entirely  comfortable,  but  at  the 
first  station  after  leaving  the  city 
several  persons  boarded  the  train,  all 
men,  comparatively  few  women  tra- 
veled much  in  the  South  at  that 
time  for  obvious  reasons.  Among 
the  new  comers  was  a  feeble  old 
man,  hardly  able  to  make  his  way 
in  the  crowd.  Without  a  second's 
thought  I  arose  and  invited  the  old 
gentleman  to  take  my  seat.  At  first, 
noticing  my  uniform,  he  declined, 
but  upon  being  pressed  he  thanked 
me  and  took  the  seat,  while  I  stood 
in  the  aisle,  thinking  no  more  about 
it.  Almost  immediately,  however,  a 
gentleman  who  was  standing  near 
the  front  of  the  car  and  had  wit- 
nessed the  incident,  came  to  me  and 
to  my  surprise,  extended  his  hand  in 
a  friendly  way  and  said:  "Captain, 
I  saw  you  rise  and  give  you'ah  seat 


km; 


THE  SIMPLE  TJFE  OF  A  ro:M:^ioxEU 


to  that  po"  old  man.  1  want  to 
thank  yo,  suli.  If  all  the  Yankee 
officers  were  like  you,  this  wah 
would  soon  be  ovah,  suh."  Of  course 
I  blushed  and  thanked  the  gentle- 
man for  his  courtesy,  at  the  same 
time,  gently  insisting  that  "Yankee" 
officers  should  not  be  thought  of  as 
strangers  to  acts  of  common  human- 
ity or  to  ordinary  politeness.  My 
friend  soon  left  the  train  and  as  far 
as  I  know  I  have  never  seen  him 
from  that  day  to  this.  Close  con- 
nections were  made  for  the  South  at 
Nashville,  and  at  Pulaski  I  rejoined 
my  company  and  received  a  warm 
welcome  from  the  boys. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 
Nothing  occurred  to  break  the 
monotony  of  camp  life  until  about 
the  middle  of  March;  for  three  or 
four  weeks  the  different  regiments 
had  been  strengthened  by  recruits 
from  the  North,  who  were  much 
needed  to  fill  up  the  ranks  which 
had  been  depleted  by  death,  from 
wounds  received  in  battle,  sickness 
and  various  other  causes,  until  in 
some  regiments  comparatively  a 
small  proportion  of  those  who  had 
enlisted  at  the  beginning  of  the  war 
remained.  Doubtless  among  the 
troops  of  all  nations,  recruits  arc 
treated  much  the  same,  as  are  fresh- 
men at  college;  they  are  compelled 
to  undergo  a  system  of  hazing  or 
nagging  imposed  upon  them  by  the 
veterans  of  the  regiment,  who  have 
great  enjoyment  from  the  sport.  I 
do  not  call  to  mind  however,  any 
instance  where  the  hazing  in  the 
army,  if  so  it  may  be  called,  was 
carried  to  such  extremes  as  it  is  in 
some  of  our  colleges.  This  I  sup- 
pose was  because  the  old  soldiers 
were  less  barbarous  in  disposition, 
more    refined    in    manners    and    of    a 


kinder  heart  than  is  .'■ometinifS 
found  among  college  students,  who 
never  enjoyed  the  advantages  of  the 
camp  and  the  field.  A  brief  extract 
from  a  letter  written  to  a  friend  in 
the  North  will  hint  at  the  worries 
of  our  recruits  in  those  days:  "Our 
recruits  have  all  been  busy  building 
quarters  today.  They  are  mostly 
young,  stout,  healthy  looking  fel- 
lows, and  will  soon  learn  the  ropes. 
The  old  soldiers  take  every  occasion 
that  offers  to  play  jokes  on  them; 
they  tell  them  some  of  the  biggest 
lies  and  make  them  believe  almost 
everything  they  say.  *  *  *  *  The 
recruits  keep  me  informed  of  every- 
thing that  goes  on;  they  are  contin- 
ually running  up  here  with  some 
complaint.  Sometimes  the  old  mem- 
bers steal  their  rations,  another  time 
a  gun  or  a  cartridge  box  is  missing; 
then  it  is  that  they  have  been  insult- 
ed by  one  of  the  old  members  of 
the  company.  The  cooks  do  not  give 
them  their  share  of  the  rations  and 
I  know  not  what.  I  generally  send 
them  to  the  Orderly  Sergeant,  but 
they  seldom  get  satisfaction.  Today 
I  had  the  Orderly  Sergeant  read  the 
articles  of  war  to  the  company.  I 
think  a  few  months  in  the  service 
will  teach  them  some  very  useful 
things."  As  I  have  already  said 
these  tenderfoots  were  seldom  sub- 
jected to  any  very  serious  assaults, 
it  was  merely  good  natured  badinage 
or  comparatively  innocent  tricks 
played  on  them  by  the  old  fellows; 
a  canteen  emptied  and  then  filled 
v.'ith  some  distasteful  liquid,  a  clean, 
highly  polished  gun  upon  which 
much  time  and  labor  had  been  ex- 
pended by  its  owner,  quietly  stolen 
from  a  tent  and  carried  out  on 
guard  on  a  rainy  night  and  a  dirty 
rusty  musket  left  in  its  place.  Or 
it  might  be  a  handful  of  blank  cart- 


THE   SIMPLE  IJEE  OF  A  COMMONER 


10- 


ridges  thiown  down  the  short  mud 
chimney  of  the  tent  in  the  dead  of 
night  causing  a  series  of  explosions 
tliat  would  instantly  wake  up  the 
sleeping  inmates,  who  in  the  excite- 
ment of  the  moment  imagined  that 
the  enemy  wais  among  them,  and  in- 
deed he  was  in  a  mild  way.  Nothing 
ever  came  of  these  pranks  except  a 
fist  fight  once  in  awhile  in  which  no 
great  harm  was  done,  for  the  fight 
was  generally  stopped  by  the  officers 
before  it  had  proceded  far.  Never- 
theless in  spite  of  all  orders  and  the 
waJchfulness  of  the  officers  on  duty, 
it  would  sometimes  happen  that  a 
recruit,  who  was  being  tortured  be- 
yond all  endurance,  would  throw  oft 
his  coat  and  sail  into  his  tormentor 
v.ith  blood  in  his  eye.  Then  the  two 
belligerants,  with  their  friends, 
would  steal  away  to  some  quiet 
nook,  where  they  felt  comparatively 
safe  from  interference  and  fight  it 
out  until  one  or  the  other  had  had 
enough.  They  fought  on  the  prin- 
ciples of  Gurth,  the  swine-herd  and 
Miller  of  Sherwood  forest,  who 
wielded  their  quarter-staffs  so  effi- 
ciently at  the  time  of  the  "Gentle 
and  Joyous'"  tilts  of  the  Knights  at 
Ashley  de  la  Zouche  in  King  Rich- 
ard's day. 

On  the  fifteenth  day  of  March  we 
were  treated  to  a  diversion  which 
was  for  the  most  part,  comedy,  con- 
cerning which  I  wrote  as  follows: 
"Today  at  half  past  twelve  o'clock 
all  the  troops  in  this  command  were 
ordered  out  and  drawn  up  in  line 
along  the  principal  street  of  the 
town  to  witness  the  disgrace  of -four 
soldiers  who  had  been  found  guilty 
of  an  offense  against  military  law. 
It  required  nearly  an  hour  to  get 
everything  in  readiness  for  the  func- 
tion. Our  brigade  commanded  by 
Colonel    E.    W.    Rice  of   the   Seventh 


Iowa  occupied  the  right  of  the  line, 
v.ith  the  second  brigade  under  Colo- 
nel Massy  of  the  Ninth  Illinois  on 
our  left.  When  all  was  in  readiness 
the  charges  and  specifications  were 
read,  together  with  the  finding  and 
sentence  of  court  martial.  There 
were  four  of  the  pri-oners,  all  of 
whom  had  been  found  guilty  of  rob- 
bing a  citizen  of  Tennessee.  They 
were  sentenced  to  have  their  heads 
shaved,  the  buttons  all  cut  off  their 
clothes,  to  be  drummed  out  of  the 
service,  and  two  of  them  to  serve 
five  years  in  the  penitentiary  at 
Nashville;  the  other  two  for  the  bal- 
ance of  their  term  of  enlistment.  All 
four  belonged  to  the  Eighteenth  Mis- 
souri Infantry.  Accordingly  at  two 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the  prison- 
ers, with  their  heads  shaved,  button- 
less  clothes,  each  one  with  his  hands 
tied  behind  him  and  a  board  fasten- 
ed to  his  back,  upon  which  was 
painted  in  large  letters  the  word, 
"Robber,"  were  conducted  by  a 
squad  of  fourteen  soldiers  under  the 
supervision  of  Colonel  Weaver,  and 
in  charge  of  Captain  Davis,  Provost 
Martial,  and  Captain  Duckworth, 
Post  Officer  of  the  Day,  to  the  start- 
ing point  at  the  right  of  the  line. 
When  everything  was  in  readiness 
the  Second  Iowa  band,  which  had 
been  detailed  for  the  occasion,  struck 
up  the  Rogue's  March,  and  the  front 
file  of  guards  came  to  a  "Shoulder 
Arms,"  with  the  prisoners  behind 
them,  followed  by  the  rear  file  of 
guards  at  a  charge  bayonet.  In  this 
order  the  procession  marched  the 
entire  length  of  the  line,  the  rogues 
bareheaded,  exposed  to  the  gaze  of 
all  the  soldiers  and  citizens  of  pulas- 
ki.  After  the  march  was  over  they 
were  conducted  back  to  the  jail.  To^ 
morrow  they  will  be  sent  to  Nash- 
ville to  serve  out  their  time  at  hard 


lOS 


THE   SIMPLE   LIFE  OF  A   COMMONER 


labor  in  the  military  prison  at  that 
place.  Two  of  them  appeared  to  be 
utterly  indifferent  to  all  that  was 
going  on  while  the  other  two  acted 
very  much  as  if  they  had  been 
caught  in  bad  company  and  were 
heartily  ashamed  of  it.  I  could  not 
help  a  feeling  of  sorrow  for  them.' 
During  that  winter  the  Seventh 
Kansas  cavalry  captured  Samuel 
Davis,  a  rebel  spy,  also  several  oth- 
ers, among  whom  were  Joshua 
Brown  and  General  Braggs  chief  of 
scouts  and  secret  service,  Colonel  S. 
Shaw.  General  Dodge  states  that 
Davis  had  been  chosen  to  be  the 
bearer  of  all  the  information  that 
had  been  obtained  by  the  other 
scouts,  to  General  Bragg,  who  was 
an.xlous  to  possess  accurate  knowl- 
edge of  the  situation  in  middle  Ten- 
nessee. If  our  people  had  known 
who  Colonel  Shaw  was,  Davis  would 
have  been  sent  north  and  treated 
as  a  prisoner  of  war,  and  Shaw- 
would  have  suffered  the  penalty  of 
the  spy.  Every  effort  was  made  by 
General  Dodge  to  induce  Davis  to 
state  where  and  from  whom  he  had 
obtained  the  information  and  papers 
found  in  his  possession,  but  this  he 
steadily  and  persistently  refused  to 
do,  knowing  that  Colonel  Shaw 
would  surely  be  hung  as  a  spy  if  his 
identy  should  become  know^n  to  the 
Union  Army.  He  chose  rather  to 
suffer  the  death  penalty  himself  than 
to  betray  his  superior  officer.  He 
was  tried  by  court  martial,  found 
guilty  of  being  a  spy  and  sentenced 
to  death  by  hanging.  It  is  a  gru- 
some  sight  to  witness  the  hanging  of 
a  man  under  any  circumstances:  it 
was  particularly  so  in  this  instance 
and  the  proceedings  were  viewed 
with  sadness  by  all  who  were  ac- 
quainted with  the  case.  The  pri- 
soner was  handcuffed,  placed  on  his 


coffin  and  driven  to  the  place  of  exe- 
cution. A  rope  was  carefully  placed 
around  his  neck  and  then  in  the 
presence  of  the  army,  he  was  launch- 
ed into  eternity.  .Just  as  the  drop 
fell  I  turned  my  head  aside  and 
when  I  again  turned  to  the  scaffold 
the  victim  was  dangling  in  the  air 
and  passing  the  portals  of  the  gates 
which  never  open  in  this  direction. 
From  the  following  which  I  find  in 
a  northern  paper,  it  appears  that 
measures  have  been  taken  to  per- 
petuate the  memory  of  the  brave 
young  spy.  This  will  meet  with  the 
hearty  approval  of  every  federal 
soldier  who  witnessed  the  tragic  end 
of  the  heroic  rebel: 

"Monuments  are  useful  in  bringing 
examples  of  heroism  and  honor  to 
the  attention  of  the  living  that  they 
may  inspire  courage  and  patriotism. 

Forty-five  years  after  his  death,  it 
is  proposed  to  unveil  a  monument  at 
Nashville  to  the  memory  of  Samuel 
Davis,  Confederate  scout  and  spy. 
With  papers — duplicates  of  Gen. 
Grant's — giving  the  field  positions  of 
the  federal  troops,  he  was  captured 
within  the  federal  lines  at  Pulaski, 
Tenn.,  November  22,  1863,  and 
brought  before  Gen.  Dodge  to  ex- 
plain from  whom  he  had  received 
them.  The  general  offered  him  his 
horse,  side  arms  and  an  escort  to 
the  federal  lines  if  he  would  yield 
the  name  of  the  traitor.  Seated  on 
the  edge  of  his  coffin  and  condemn- 
ed to  be  hanged  he  replied:  "Had 
1  a  thousand  lives  1  would  lose  them 
all  before  I  would  betray  my 
friends."  He  was  a  21  year  old  hero. 
They  cut  the  buttons  from  his 
weatherworn  jacket  and  he  handed 
them  to  the  chaplain  to  be  sent  to 
his  mother  and  sisters  at  Ruther- 
ford, Tennessee,  with  a  message  of 
love.     .1.  C.  Kennedy,  now  a  member 


THK   SIMPLE   LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


lOil 


of  the  nionunient  committee,  then  a 
lad,  and  Oscar  Davis,  brother  of 
yanuiel,  were  sent  to  Pulaski  by  the 
mother  to  get  the  body.  The  pro- 
vost marshal  gave  them  the  assist- 
ance of  soldiers  in  removing  the  cof- 
fin froiii  the  grave  and  at  Columbia 
a  federal  ferry  boat  was  pressed  into 
service  to  transport  team,  wagon 
and  contents  across  the  river,  while 
the  federal  soldiers  stood  with  bow- 
ed heads  as  the  body  of  the  scout 
passed  by.  Their  own  experience 
had  taught  them  the  honor  due  to 
courage." 

Toward  th©  last  of  April  all  the 
troopis  under  command  of  General 
Dodge  left  Pulaski  for  Chattanooga, 
passing  through  Huntsville,  Ala- 
bama, where  there  are  some  of  the 
finest  springs  I  ever  saw,  beautiful 
clear  water  of  great  depth  and  large 
area,  which  should  make  of  that 
place  a  popular  resort  for  health 
seekers  who  desire  a  moderately 
warm  climate.  Most  of  the  boys  who 
were  to  be  mustered  out  during  the 
month  of  May  were  left  behind 
guarding  bridges  and  helping  to 
Keep  open  the  line  of  communica- 
tion between  Nashville  and  the 
front.  I  was  the  only  officer  with 
the  company  when  we  left  Hunts- 
ville. My  First  Lieutenant,  J.  C. 
Conway,  being  on  the  staff  of  Gen- 
ejal  Rice,  and  my  Second  Lieuten- 
ant, O.  M.  Langford  remaining  with 
the  non-veterans.  When  we  had  ar- 
rived within  hailing  distance  of 
Chattanooga  and  camped  for  the 
night,  I  wrote  home  as  follows: 
Lookout  :\Iountain,  May  4th,  1864. 
My  Dear  M:  — 

I  again  improve  an  opportunity  to 
write  you  a  few  lines.  We  left  Hunts- 
ville on  Monday  morning  and  march- 
ed about  fifteen  miles,  then  camped 
for  the  night;    next  morning  we  re- 


sumed our  march  and  that  day  cov- 
ered twenty-two  mile-,  when  we 
camped  for  the  night.  This  morn- 
ing we  took  the  cars  on  the  Mem- 
phis and  Charleston  railroad  and  to- 
night finds  us  at  Chattanooga.  The 
program  was  changed  after  we  left 
Huntsville,  or  we  would  have  had  to 
march  all  the  way.  The  original  plan 
was  an  expedition  by  Sherman  to- 
ward Atlanta,  on  a  grand  scale,  but 
information  has  been  received  by 
General  Thomas  that  the  rebels  are 
about  to  attack  him  in  force,  hence 
the  change.  We  are  undoubtedly  on 
the  eve  of  very  stormy  events.  The 
Twelfth  Army  Corps  under  General 
Hooker  and  the  Fifteenth  under 
General  Logan  are  on  the  way  here. 
I  think  a  big  battle  will  be  fought 
somewhere  near  Ringgold.  Only  a 
small  force  has  been  left  to  guard 
the  railroad  between  here  and  Pu- 
laski: all  the  forces  available  seem 
to    be    concentrating    at    this    point.' 

My  last  letter  from  the  army  was 
written  at  Kingston,  Georgia,  May 
liOth,  18  64,  in  w^hich  was  briefly 
noted  a  few  of  the  stirring  events 
which  rapidly  followed  each  other  at 
that  period. 
•My  dear  :M  :  — 

I  have  not  until  now  had  ajj  op- 
portunity for  writing  you.  Since  my 
last  letter  we  left  Chattanooga  and 
proceded  southward,  arriving  at 
Snake  Creek  Gap  about  ten  days 
ago.  We  have  a  large  army,  com- 
manded by  General  Sherman.  It  is 
divided  into  several  columns,  one 
under  General  Schofield,  operating 
on  our  extreme  left:  one  under  Gen- 
eral Thomas,  in  the  center:  one  un- 
der Hooker;  one  acting  independent- 
ly, -and  our  own,  composed  of  the 
Fifteenth  and  Sixteenth  Corps  under 
:McPherson.  At  Snake  Creek  Gap 
we  began    skirmishin?   with    the   en- 


110 


THE   SIMPLE   LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


emy.  We  advanced  slowly,  driving 
him  baclv  until  we  arrived  at  Resac- 
ca,  where  he  made  a  stand;  at  this 
place  our  army  united  and  prepared 
for  battle.  The  Rebel  army  under 
General  Johnston  numbered,  as  near 
as  we  could  find  out,  60,000  men. 
We  skirmished  and  fought  with  him 
for  four  days,  though  no  general  en- 
gagement took  place;  the  Rebels 
would  not  fight.  Scarcely  more  than 
a  brigade  would  be  engaged  at  a 
time.  On  the  morning  of  Sunday, 
the  fifteenth,  they  evacuated,  and 
are  now  skedadling  toward  Atlanta, 
where  we  are  following  them  as  fast 
as  possible.  Our  loss  at  Rosacea  will 
probably  be  about  five  thousand.  The 
Rebel  loss,  I  think,  will  be  much 
greater.  The  Second  Iowa  did  not 
lose  a  man,  killed  or  wounded, 
though  we  were  in  one  or  two  rath- 
er hard  places.  Johnston  is  report- 
ed to  have  made  a  speech  to  his 
troops  just  before  the  battle,  telling 
Ihem  that  our  army  was  composed 
of  niggers  and  hundred  day  men, 
and  that  if  they  would  make  one 
good  charge  we  would  all  run.  King-s 
ston  is  about  sixty  miles  from  Atlan- 
ta and  fifteen  miles  from  Rome.  We 
arrived  at  this  place  last  night.  The 
Rebels  left  it  in  the  morning,  so  you 
see  our  advance  is  close  after  them. 
They  had  not  time  to  destroy  the 
railroad  bridges,  and  this  morning 
we  were  surprised  to  see  a  train  of 
cars  coming  into  Kingston;  we  keep 
the  road  open  as  we  advance.  The 
Twenty-sixth  Iowa  lost  about  thirty 
killed  and  wounded  at  Resacca.  Ser- 
geant Watson  was  slightly  wounded. 
We  have  been  marching  day  and 
night  since  the  battle,  scarcely  get- 
ting  more  than  an  hour  or  two  of 
sleep  out  of  twenty-four;  I  don't 
know  whether  they  will  make  a 
stand  at  Atlanta  or  not,  but  I  am  in- 


clined to  think  they  will  and  if  they 
do  we  will  no  doubt  have  a  desperate 
fight." 

At  Rome  Cross  Reads  the  regi- 
ment was  again  under  fire,  but  met 
with  no  serious  loss,  the  enemy  fail- 
ing to  make  a  decided  stand  on  our 
front. 

My  last  important  action  in  the 
service  of  Uncle  Sam  was  rendered 
at  Lay's  Ferry  on  the  Oustonaula 
river,  where  I  was  given  command  of 
a  body  of  troops  wihich  were  order- 
ed out  to  protect  Captain  Reese, 
chief  engineer  of  the  army  of  the 
Tennessee,  who  with  a  party  of 
bridge  builders  was  laying  a  pon- 
toon bridge  across  the  river.  Two 
or  three  were  wounded  before  the 
bridge  was  completed,  but  I  don't 
remember  that  any  fatalities  occur- 
red. It  was,  however,  an  awkward 
situation  for  the  men  at  work  to  be 
placed  in  as  they  had  no  opportunity 
to  return  the  fire  of  the  enemy  which 
was  delivered  mostly  by  sharp  shoot- 
ers from  behind  trees  and  stumps, 
and    by   distant  artillery. 

Soon  after  this  time  all  that  was 
left  of  the  regiment  was  strength- 
ened by  a  remnant  of  the  Third 
Iowa,  which  was  consolidated  with 
it  and  so  the  two  regiments  as  one 
remained  until  the  close  of  the  war. 
It  has  always  seemed  to  me  to  be  a 
pity  that  so  .noble  a  body  of  men  as 
those  who  composed  the  Third-  Iowa 
Infantry  should  lose  their  regimen- 
tal identity,,  as  one  writer  has  said: 
"It  was  fortunate  the  members  re- 
maining were  assigned  to  so  fine  a 
regiment  as  the  Second,  but  after 
all  it  would  have  been  better  and 
more  just,  to  have  allowed  the  com-> 
mand  to  retain  its  identity  and  its 
name." 

Toward  the  end  of  the  month  I 
was   sent  back   to   Pulaski   with   sev- 


THE   SIMPLE   LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


111 


eral  other  officevs,  whose  terms  of 
service  had  expired.  It  was  hard  to 
leave  the  regiment  with  which  1 
had  so  long  been  identified  and  with 
which  I  had  so  many  times  under- 
gone the  hardships  of  the  march,  the 
sickness  of  the  camp  and  the  hospi- 
tal, the  perils  of  the  battlefield,  hun- 
ger and  thirst  with  all  the  privations 
inseparable  from  a  soldier's  life. 
And  now  I  had  come  to  the  end  of 
it  all  and  must  say  farewell  to 
the  few  of  my  comrades  who  were 
to  remain  for  nearly  another  year 
and  participate  in  the  march  to  the 
sea.  It  was  hard  to  leave  the  regi- 
ment and  say  farewell  to  my  com- 
rades, but  the  fact  that  there  was  a 
surplus  of  commissioned  ofl^cers  to- 
gether with  other  considerations  that 
need  not  be  mentioned  here,  induced 
me  to  surrender  my  commission,  af- 
ter having  served  something  over 
three  years,  from  the  line  of  the 
Hannibal  and  St.  Joseph  railroad  in 
northern  Missouri  to  Kingston,  Geor- 
gia. So  on  the  2  8th  day  of  May, 
1864  at  Pv.laski,  Tennessee,  I  was 
mustered  out  of  the  service  and  im- 
mediately departed  for  my  home  in 
Iowa,  bearing  in  my  body  some  of 
the  marks  of  a  soldier's  life. 

As  to  the  regiment  itself,  one  of 
the  historians  of  the  Iowa  troops, 
has  this  to  say:  "The  Second  Iowa 
Infantry  was  one  of  the  most  noted 
of  Iowa  regiments — distinguished  on 
account  of  its  distinguished  men. 
The  command  which  gave  Curtis, 
Tut'tle  and .  Crocker  to  the  service 
must  remain  forever  memorable  in 
our  annals.  Nearly  all  of  its  field 
officers — Baker,  Mills,  Weaver,  How- 
ard, Chipman  and  Hamil — were 
wounded  in  battle,  and  two  sealed 
their  gallantry  with  their  death. 
Among  the  line  officers,  yea,  among 
the  "rank  and  file"  of  this  regiment. 


as  was  indeed  the  fact  with  most 
Iowa  regiments,  there  were  men  who 
would  have  adorned  any  society.  It 
was  distinguished  for  its  gallant 
deeds.  It  has  best  comported  with 
the  plan  of  this  work  to  give  prom- 
inence to  the  first  great  battle  in 
which  the  command  took  part.  But 
it  fought  no  less  gallantly  elsewhere, 
the  officers  and  men  on  all  occasions 
when  called  upon  to  encounter  the 
enemy,  displaying  coolness,  courage 
and  enthusiastic  gallantry  fully 
equal  to  what  was  to  be  expected  of 
those  who  were  conscious  of  having 
to  sustain  the  reputation  of  the 
heroes  of  Fort  Donelscn — "The  brav- 
est of  the  brave."  And  I  may  add 
that  what  is  here  said  of  the  Sec- 
ond Iowa  might  also  be  as  truth- 
fully said  of  all  Iowa  regiments  and 
indeed  of  American  soldiers  gener- 
ally. 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

Soon  after  my  return  to  Lyons  I 
purchased  an  interest  in  a  grocery 
store,  which  was  owned  and  operat- 
ed by  Mr.  G.  W.  Hammond.  The 
building  was  a  wooden  structure  lo- 
cated on  the  northwest  corner  of 
Main  and  Sixth  streets.  Mr.  Ham- 
mond was  an  honorable  business 
man,  who  enjoyed  the  confidence  of 
the  entire  community -and  our  rela- 
tions were  always  pleasant  and  sat- 
isfactory. 

We  did  a  gocd  business,  all  things 
consi-lered,  and  I  have  ever  regard- 
ed with  grafiflcation  that  business 
venture.  It  was  a  time  when  high 
prices  ruled  in  all  American  mar- 
kets on  certain  classes  of  goods. 
Some  thinss  were  affected  by  the 
war  much  more  than  others,  but  al- 
most everything  felt  the  influence  of 


Ill 


THE   SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


the    times,    unless    it    was    farm    pro- 
ducts,     such    as    butter      and    eggs, 
which    were   not   materially  affected. 
Cotton    goods,    sugar   and    turpentine 
were  among  the  most  sensitive  of  alL 
because    they    were    products    of    the 
Soutnern  states  and  were  so  univer- 
sally   in    demand.      We    never     kept 
on  hand  more  sugar  than  was  abso- 
lutely  needed   to   meet   the   demands 
of   our   customers    from    day   to   day, 
because    when    a    barrel      had    been 
sold    we    were    unable  •  to    replace    it 
with  another  at  the  same  cost.     We 
made    a    specialty    of    butter,    which 
was    brought    in    by    fanners    as    far 
west   as    Maquoketa  and   sold    by    us 
for   home      consumption.      The   price 
was   governed    by  the   quality,   there 
being  three  or  four  grades:  of  course 
our  customers  all  thought  they  made 
as  good   or  better  butter  than   their 
neighbors,  while  as  a  matter  of  fact 
there    was    a    vast    difference    in    the 
goods  they  brought  us.      Some  of  it 
was     soft     and     white     and     frowsy 
with       occasional       hairs      scattered 
through     it     to     hold     it     together, 
though    often    it   did   appear   to   have 
strength   enough   to   meet   every   rea- 
sonable   demand    that      might    have 
been  made  upon  it,  but  the  most  of 
what  came  to  us  was  of  good  quali- 
ty and  some  of  it  was  excellent.  One 
day  a  stranger  drove  up  to  the  store 
and  inquired  if  we  wanted  any  but- 
ter.     I   said    "Yes;"   then  said   he — 
"I  have  some  here;    I   will  leave     it 
till  I  go  on  down  town  and  sell  my 
"Wheat,    then    I    will    come    back    and 
settle    for    it    on    my      way    out.      I 
want    some    groceries.       "What    are 
you  paying  for  butter?"     I  gave  him 
the  average  price,  and  he  went  away 
satisfied.      After  he  had   gone   I    ex- 


amined the  butter  which  was  pack- 
ed in  five  gallon  jars  and  found  it 
to  be  of  the  finest  quality,  so  when 
he  returned  I  said  to  him:  "Mr. 
Evans,  your  butter  is  worth  two 
cents  per  pound  more  than  I  told 
you,  it  is  so  much  better  than  the 
average  that  we  can  afford  to  pay 
you  more  for  it,  which  I  am  glad  to 
do."  He  was  both  surprised  and 
pleased  and  thereafter  became  one 
of  our  regular  customers.  The 
transaction  also  brought  forth  fruit 
in  another  way  to  which  reference 
will  be  made  in  another  place. 

On  the  8th  day  of  November, 
1864,  the  day  on  which  Abraham 
Lincoln  was  elected  for  the  second 
time  to  the  presidency  of  the  United 
States,  the  unexpected  happened. 
Now  there  are  some  people  who  say 
that  it  is  only  in  war  that  the  unex- 
pected happens.  In  love  and  other 
domestic  calamities  there  is  always 
a  relative  who  knew  it  all  the  time. 
However  that  may  be,  an  important 
incident  quite  unexpected  to  most  of 
our  friends,  took  place  on  the  afore- 
mentioned day,  I  was  married  to  Miss 
Mary  Margaret  Bennett,  the  young 
lady  I  had  seen  for  the  first  time  in 
the  Sunday  school  four  years  before 
and  with  whom  I  had  maintained  an 
affectionate  correspondence  while  in 
the  army;  thus  fulfilling  the  decla- 
ration: "If  I  ever  get  married 
that  girl  will  be  my  wife.".  The 
wedding  was  a  simple  affair.. 

By  a  previous  arrangement  the 
ceremony  was  performed  by  the  Rev. 
S.  N.  Fellows,  pastor  of  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  church,  at  the  home 
of  Mrs.  .Tohn  Sloan,  a  mutual  friend 
at  whose  house  a  church  sociable 
was  being  held.  Mrs.  Bennett  was 
not  at   all  favorable  to  the  arrange- 


THE   SIMPLE   LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


ii;5 


luent;  she  did  not  like  to  have  her 
('aiighter  married  away  from  home, 
but  after  entering  her  protest  final- 
ly consented  to  our  whim  as  she  cal- 
led it,  with  the  understanding  that 
a  reception  must  afterward  be  held 
at  the  Bennett  home,  which  was  of 
course  cheerfully  agreed   to. 

The  people  at  the  sociable  were 
completely  surprised  when  in  the 
course  of  the  evening  the  minister 
called  the  company  to  order  and  re- 
quested their  attention  for  a  few  mo- 
ments. Everything  in  readiness,  we 
pas-ed  from  an  adjoining  room  into 
the  presence  of  the  company  and 
were  joined  together  in  holy  wedlock 
The  bride  was  simply  and  plainly 
clad  for  the  occasion;  the  chief  fea- 
ture cf  the  bridal  outfit  being  a 
calico  dress,  which  was  regarded  as 
a  very  sensible  object  lesson  at  a 
time  when  economy  in  dress  was  a 
consideration  cf  importance  among 
all  save  the  rich.  Even  so,  the  ma- 
terial in  that  dress  cost  fifty  cents 
per  yard  and  fifty  cents  was  harder 
to  get  at  that  time  than  five  times 
that  amount  at  the  present  time. 
However,  it  is  not  to  be  supposed 
that  the  matter  cf  expense  was  ser- 
iously considered.  There  was  no 
greater  hesitancy  among  young 
people  about  entering  upon  the  mar- 
ried life  on  account  of  the  expense 
of  living  than  there  is  at  the  present 
time.  Perhaps  with  reason,  there  was 
not  near  so   much. 

In  the  month  of  February  follow- 
ing our  marriage,  largely  through 
the  influence  of  my  wife  and  her 
christian  parents,  I  was  led  to  give 
my  heart  to  God  and  enter  upcn  the 
Christian  life,  a  step  which  was  des- 
tined to  mould  my  character  and  in- 
fluence all  my  subsequent  career.  At 
the  time  this  all-important  step  was 


taken,  special  religious  services  were 
being  held  in  the  city,  in  which  all 
the  evangelical  churches  were  en- 
gaged. It  was  at  one  of  those  meet- 
ings I  tcok  the  decisive  stand,  en- 
rolling myself  as  a  soldier  of  the 
Lord    JesiTS    Christ. 

I  immediately  united  with  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church,  on  pro- 
bation, and  six  months  afterward, 
was  received  into  full  connection  in 
that  church.  During  the  fall  of  the 
same  year  I  was  constituted  a  local 
preacher  and  almost  immediately  be- 
gan to  "exercise  my  gifts."  The  8th 
of  September,  1865,  was  a  red  letter 
day  to  us,  for  on  that  day,  our  first 
babe  was  born.  It  was  a  girl,  whom 
we  named  Anna  Louise. 

My  first  attempt  to  hold  a  religious 
service  and  preach  a  sermon  was  an 
event  of  great  moment  to  me,  as  1 
think  it  must  be  to  every  young 
preacher.  I  had  reason  to  fear  that  if 
my  old  cronies  discovered  the  time 
and  place  of  my  first  effort  they 
would  be  out  in  force  and  cause  me 
much  embarrassment.  So  I  fixed  up- 
on a  school  house  about  four  miles 
frcm  town  in  a  rather  secluded  lo- 
cality as  the  place  where  it  would  be 
safest  to  fire  my  first  gun.  The  ser- 
vice was  to  be  held  on  a  Sunday  af- 
ternoon. At  the  time  appointed  I 
slipped  out  of  town  and  shyly  made 
my  way  out  to  the  school  house.  A 
fair  sized  congregation  was  on  hand, 
curious  to  find  out  what  sort  of  a 
figure  Harry  Green  would  present  in 
the  pulpit.  They  found  out.  I  had 
announced  the  first  hymn,  offered 
prayer,  read  a  scripture  lesson  and 
was  just  starting  the  second  hymn, 
when,  to  my  chagrin,  there  came 
marching  into  the  school  house  a 
dozen  or  so  of  my  old  chums  from 
town.       I    was    completely    upset    for 


114 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


the  moment,  but  covered  my  con- 
fusion as  best  I  could  and  proceeded 
with  the  service.  It  must  have  been 
a  crude  affair  from  beginning  to  end. 
When  it  came  to  the  text: "Prepare 
to  Meet  thy  God,"  I  announced  it  in 
a  weak  voice  and  then  with  fear  and 
trembling,  proceeded  to  tell  what  I 
did  not  know  aibouit  it.  At  the 
conclusion  of  the  service,  which  1 
somehow  reached  through  the  men- 
tal mist,  one  of  the  boys  said  to  me: 
"Well,  Harry,  I  don't  think  it  will  be 
necessary  for  you  to  preach  any 
more."  "Why,  what  do  you  mean?" 
"Well,"  he  replied,  "You  began  at 
the  first  of  Genesis  and  went  clear 
through  to  the  last  of  Revelation.  ' 
And  I  was  in  no  condition  to  deny  it. 
I  held  a  few  services  after  that  in 
different  places;  and  during  the  year 
it  was  borne  in  upon  me  that  I  must 
become  a  minister  of  the  gospel.  I 
did  not  contend  aigainst  this  impres- 
sion, especially  as  it  was  re-inforced 
by  the  opinion  of  the  Presiding  El- 
der, Pastor  and  several  of  the  lead- 
ing members  of  the  church  ait  Lyons. 
So  in  the  fall  of  the  year,  1866,  I  at- 
tended the  session  of  the  Upper  Iowa 
Conference,  which,  was  held  at  De- 
corah,  and  was  entertained  at  the 
home  of  Mr.  Simeon  Leach,  on  the 
west  side  of  the  river. 

To  reach  Decorah,  I  was  obliged 
to  go  to  Cedar  Rapids  on  the  C.  & 
N.  W.  railroad,  thence  to  Dubuque, 
from  Dubuque  by  boat  to  McGregor, 
thence  by  rail  to  Conover  and  from 
Conover  by  stage  to  Decorah. 

I  did  not  unite  with  the  conference 
at  that  session,  but  "took  work  un- 
der the  Elder,"  who  appointed  me 
to  Summer  Hill  Circuit,  a  wide  area 
located  in  Jackson  and  Clinton 
counties,    embracing   all   the   teritory 


lying  between  Maquoketa  and  Elk 
river. 

I  had  previously  disposed  of  my 
interest  in  the  store,  and  having 
purchased  a  horse  and  buggy  was 
ready  to  move  to  my  work.  John 
Holroyd,  a  member  of  the  church, 
living  on  the  charge,  volunteered  to 
move  our  things  out  to  the  parson- 
age, distant  some  thirty-five  miles; 
so  our  stuff  was  loaded  on  the  wag- 
ons and  the  procesicn  started.  Hol- 
royd got  away  in  good  shape  and  ar- 
rived at  the  parsonage  without  ac- 
cident. Not  so  the  other  two  teams; 
their  drivers  had  evidently  forgot- 
ten the  lessons  taught  them  in  the 
Sunday  school,  for  we  who  followed 
them  in  our  buggy  some  hours  lat- 
er, discovered  the  teams  hitched  in 
front  of  a  saloon  just  outside  of 
town,  while  the  drivers  were  inside 
drinking.  I  remarked  to  my  wife, 
"I  am  afraid  we  shall  have  trouble 
with  those  fellows  before  we  have 
done  with  them."  And  indeed  we 
did  for  when  they  reached  the  par- 
sonage the  next  day  about  thirty-five 
dollars  worth  of  carpet  was  missing 
and  the  furniture  was  badly  broken 
up,  several  of  the  new  chairs  were 
nearly  destroyed  and  of  one  of  the 
jars  of  fruit  wihich  the  preacher'.s 
wife  had  so  carefully  prepared  there 
was  little  left;  the  bedding  suffered 
severely  and  in  fact  nearly  every- 
thing on  those  two  wagons  was  more 
or  less  injured.  xae  teamsters  had 
evidently  gotten  thoroughly  drunk 
and  had  been  racing  their  teams, 
for  some  people  on  the  road  told  us 
afterward  how  they  had  heard  them 
whooping  and  yelling  like  mad  men 
as  they  drove  past.  Evidently  there 
was  need  of  missionary  work  in  that 
country. 

The    parsonage,-  which    was    locat- 


THE   SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


115 


ed  in  an  isolated  position  at  a  bleak, 
dreary  spot  on  the  top  of  a  hill 
which  had  once  been  covered  with 
timber,  was  surrounded  with  scrub- 
by underbrush.  It  was  distant  nine 
miles  from  Maquoketa,  the  nearest 
town.  A  barn-like  structure,  which 
was  a  mere  shell;  it  defied  all  efforts 
to  render  it  anything  like  comfort- 
able in  the  winter;  so  we  suffered 
from  those  piercing  blasts  which 
swept  over  the  exposed  country, 
driving  their  way  pitilesly  through 
the  cracks  and  crevices  into  the 
house  and  freezing  everything  that 
could  not  be  kept  close  to  the  stove. 
I  used  to  wonder  why  it  was  not 
called  Winter  Hill  instead  of  Sum- 
mer Hill. 

The  people  were  very  kind,  how- 
ever, and  kept  us  well  provided  with 
fuel,  so  we  survived  the  winter. 
When  we  arrived  on  the  charge 
there  were  five  preaching  places,  all 
of  them  school  houses,  but  during 
my  second  year  two  more  were  ad- 
ded, so  I  was  kept  busy  supplying 
the  work.  The  drives  were  from 
five  to  twenty  miles  long  and  as  Mrs. 
Green  almost  always  went  with  me 
when  the  weather  would  at  all  per- 
mit; we  did  not  always  return  home 
on  Sunday  evening,  but  remained 
over  and  visited  among  the  people 
for  two  or  three  days,  frequently 
meeting  with  wholesome  adventures 
and  having  some  rare  experiences. 
The  long  drives  in  the  summer, 
through  the  timber  and  across  the 
prairies,  were  greatly  enjoyed  by  us. 
The  preacher's  wife,  who  was  a  fine 
singer  in  those  days,  possessing  a 
beautiful  voice  which  had  been  care- 
fully trained,  would  sing  hymn  af- 
ter hymn,  while  I,  who  knew  but 
little  about  music,  would  help  to 
swell   the  volume  of  sound,   and  en- 


joyed it,  I  think  quite  as  much  as  if 
I  had  known  more  of  the  science. 

One  of  my  preaching  places 
which  was  known  as  the  Deep  Creek 
appointment  was  situated  about  mid- 
way between  the  parsonage  and  Ly- 
ons. Near  the  school  house  lived 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Evans,  the  people 
whose  butter  I  had  bought  while  in 
the  store.  They  were  not  members  ot 
our  church  but  they  were  among 
our  best  friends  and  their  home  was 
always  open  to  us  when  we  were  in 
that  neighborhood,  as  indeed  were 
most  of  the  homes  on  the  charge  and 
that  without  regard  to  chuch  affini- 
ty. So  free  was  the  hospitality  on 
Summer  Hill  circuit  that  it  was  ut- 
terly imposible  for  us  to  respond  to 
all  the  invitations  we  received  from 
our  parishioners;  not  infrequently 
would  we  be  gone  from  home  two  or 
three  weeks  at  a  time,  making  ac- 
quaintences,  holding  meetings  and 
visiting   among   the   people. 

On  the  24th  of  March,  1866,  our 
second  babe  was  born.  It  was  another 
girl,  whom  in  a  rare  burst  of  state 
pride,  we  named  Iowa,  though  just 
why  we  should  have  been  so  patri- 
otic at  that  particular  time,  I  am  un- 
able to  say. 

The  last  Quarterly  Conference  ot 
the  year  met  early  in  September  and 
recommended  the  preacher  to  the 
Annual  Conference  for  "Admission 
on  Trial;"  and  the  recommendation 
presented  by  the  Presiding  Elder, 
Rev.  R.  W.  Keeler,  at  the  ensuing 
session,  which  was  held  at  Iowa  City, 
September  18th,  Bishop  E.  S. 
.lanes,  presiding.  It  so  happened 
that  mine  was  the  last  of  the  Quar- 
terly Conferences  on  the  district 
t-iat  year,  and  at  its  close  I  started 
for   the   Annual   Conference   in   com- 


IK) 


THE   SIMPLE   LIFE  OF  A  CO.MMOXER 


pany  with  the  Presiding  Elder.  We 
were  obliged  to  remain  over  night  at 
the  home  of  one  of  my  members. 
The  chamber  assigned  to  us  for  a 
sleeping  apartment  had  never  been 
lathed  and  plastered  and  as  the 
house  happened  to  be  over  run  with 
rats  we  had  plenty  of  company  most 
cf  the  night.  However,  as  both  ot 
us  were  feeling  pretty  well  worn  out 
we  soon  fell  asleep.  I  do  not  know 
how  long  we  had  been  sleeping,  but 
sometime  in  the  night  I  was  sud- 
denly awakened  by  a  sharp  pain  in 
my  upper  lip.  Instantly  raising  my 
head  I  was  astonished  to  discover 
a  monstrous  rat,  which,  on  being 
alarmed  by  liiy  action,  at  once  jump- 
ed from  the  bed  to  the  floor.  The 
brute  had  caught  my  lip  between  his 
teeth  and  had  bitten  clean  through  it. 
In  the  morning  I  discovered  that  the 
bosom  of  my  shirt  was  spotted  with 
blood  and  that  my  lip  was  badly 
swollen.  Our  hosts  were  greatly 
surprised  at  my  appearance  and  pro- 
fusely apologized  for  the  incident 
which  was  only  trivial  after  all  and 
my  face  soon  recovered  its  wonted 
aspect. 

At  the  Annual  Conference  in  com- 
pany with  ten  others  I  was  admitted 
on  trial  ,  and  at  the  end  of  the  ses- 
sion was  read  oif  for  Summer  Hill 
Circuit,  for  the  second  year,  which 
was  entirely  satisfactory  to  me  and 
to  my  wife  and  was  not,  I  believe, 
displeasing  to  the  people  en  the  cir- 
cuit. 

I  may  say  here  that  the  Annual 
Conference  is  composed  of  all  the 
Traveling  Preachers  within  the 
bounds  of  a  given  territory;  of  these 
there  are  what  are  termed  Effective, 
Supernumerary  and  Superannuated 
Preachers;  also  there  are  the  Li- 
centiates  or   young   men   on   trial   in 


the  conference.  Every  preacher  is 
required  to  pass  an  examination  on  a 
four  year's  course  of  study;  after 
serving  two  years  on  probation  he  is 
received  into  full  connection  by  vote 
of  the  conference  and  ordained  Dea- 
con, then  after  having  "travelled'" 
two  years  mere  he  is  ordained 
Elder. 

In  the  case  of  young  men  who  are 
to  enter  the  missionary  field,  an  ex- 
cepticn  is  made  and  they  may  be 
ordained  at  one  \  under  what  is 
termed  "The  Missionary  Rule." 
Preachers  are  also  received  from 
other  denominations.  The  ordina- 
tion papers  of  those  who  are  in  ord- 
ers in  Evangelical  churches  are  rec- 
ognized by  us  and  upon  assent,  in 
open  conference,  to  the  doctrines 
and  discipline  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal church,  they  are  admitted  to 
full  membership  by  vote  of  the  Con- 
ference. There  has  been  some  talk 
in  recent  years  about  admitting  lay- 
men to  the  Annual  Conference,  but 
up  to  the  present  time  nothing  has 
been  accomplished  and  at  this  time 
it  does  not  appear  what  good  pur- 
pose their  admission  could  serve. 

It  was  with  many  misgivings  that 
I  entered  upon  my  second  year  at 
Summer  Hill.  My  first  year  had  not 
been  very  satisfactory,  and  certainly 
the  charge  was  an  exceedingly  diffi- 
cult one  to  serve.  I  think  it  was 
looked  upon  as  one  of  the  least  de- 
sirable in  the  Conference.  Most  ot 
the  preachers  would  have  felt  it  a 
hardship  had  they  been  sent  there. 
It  was  scattered  over  so  much  terri- 
tory, in  a  rough,  hilly  country  and 
the  homes  of  the  members  were  dis- 
tant from  each  other,  rendering  it 
extremely  difficult  to  do  pastoral 
visitation. 

At  one  point  there  were  several 
feuds  among  the   members,   some   of 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


ir 


them  of  long  standing,  which  had 
brciight  the  cause  of  Christ  into  dis- 
repute. In  not  a  few  instances  these 
dissensions  were  caused  by  intense 
partisanship  in  politics,  while  in 
others  that  prolific  mischief  maker 
in  country  precincts,  the  line  fence, 
was  responsible  for  our  troubles. 
With  regard  to  politics  I  may  say 
that  the  neighborhood  had  been 
largely  democratic  during  the  war 
and  the  people  were  outspoken  in 
the  expression  of  their  prejudices. 
The  democrats  were  still  called  "cop- 
perheads" and  the  republicans  "nig- 
ger worshippers,"  and  other  pet 
names  in  vogue  in  war  times;  the=e 
things  in  addition  to  the  fact  that 
there  was  not  a  single  church  build- 
ing on  the  w^iole  charge,  the  salary 
of  the  preacher  so  meager  that 
he  could  not  have  supported  his  fam- 
ily had  it  not  been  for  the  donations 
he  received  in  firewood,  edibles,  etc.. 
tended  to  discourage  a  young, 
inexperienced  preacher  and  make  the 
circuit  un'^esirable.  Donations  were 
not  to  be  depended  upon,  for  if  the 
preacher,  likewise  Mrs.  preacher 
happened  to  "take  well,"  very  gen- 
erous donations  were  made,  but  if 
it  chanced  that  either  of  them  were 
not  well  likei,  donations  were  light 
and  airy.  They  were  an  uncertain 
quantity,  and  no  dependence  could 
be  placed  on  them,  still  it  was  quite 
the  custom  on  country  charges  to  fix 
the  salary  at  a  given  figure  with  the 
understanding  that  a  donation  would 
be  adied,  the  size  of  which  when 
it  came  off,  depended  on  conditions, 
over  which  the  Quarterly  Conference 
had  no  jurisdiction.  It  was  our  cus- 
tom on  those  first  fields  of  labor  to 
keep  two  or  three  pigs  and  a  lot  of 
chickens  which  added  materially  to 
OUT  income,  and  at  Summer  Hill 
there  w^as  nothing  to  prevent  our 
doing  so.     When  we  were  away  from 


home  a  neighbor,  who  lived  just 
across  the  road  was  engaged  to  look 
after  our  live  stock,  so  we  were  nev- 
er uneasy  about  them.  We  could 
leave  home  with  the  comfortable 
feeling  that  everything  on  the  farm 
would  be  cared  for  in  our  absence. 
I  do  not  remember  that  we  ever  lost 
anything  except  on  one  occasion 
when  rats,  or  weasels,  or  some  other 
marauding  little  beasts  made  a  raid 
on  our  chickens  and  destroyed  every 
one  of  them,  nearly  one  hundred  in 
all. 

As  already  stated,  we  entered  up- 
on the  second  year  of  our  ministry 
with  fear  and  trembling  on  my  part. 
I  was  worried  over  what  I  regarded 
as  a  want  of  success  the  year  before, 
and  began  to  be  troubled  with  ser- 
ious doubts  about  the  genuineness 
of  my  call  to  the  ministry.  Had  1 
and  my  friends  been  mistaken  about 
my  "call?"  Had  I  been  listening  to 
the  wrong  voice?  I  thought  about 
it  day  and  night;  I  prayed  over  it, 
but  said  nothing  to  anyone  about  it. 
It  was  a  long  time  before  the  matter 
was  solved  to  my  satisfaction.  How- 
ever, when  a  conclusion  was  finally 
reached,  it  settled  the  question  for- 
ever. I  resolved  that  unless  that 
year  was  productive  of  results  in 
the  way  of  conversions,  I  should  as- 
sume that  I  had  mistaken  my  call- 
ing and  go  back  to  some  secular 
pursuit  at  the  end  of  the  year.  Hav- 
ing reached  this  conclusion,  I  dis- 
missed the  matter  from  my  mind  as 
far  as  possible  and  went  on  with  my 
work. 

Before  me  as  I  set  down  these 
things,  lies  the  marriage  license  of 
the  first  couple  I  joined  in  wedlock. 
It  was  issued  for  the  marriage  of 
.Tames  H.  Blakesley  and  Mary  M. 
T^^lwood,  and  was  signed  by  Alfred 
L.  Palmer,  county  judge,  in  his  of- 
fice at  Andrew,   which   was  then  the 


118 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


county  seat  of  Jackson  county,  on 
December  26,  1876.  Since  that 
time  I  have  officiated  on  many  sim- 
ilar occasions,  but  the  first  wedding 
is  in  some  respects  like  the  coming 
of  the  first  babe  in  the  home.  It 
makes  an  epoch  in  the  ministerial 
life. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

Nothing  out  of  the  ordinary  oc- 
curred on  the  charge  until  winter. 
It  had  been  the  custom  to  hold 
prayer  meetings  at  tae  school  house 
nearest  the  parsonage  on  Thursday 
evenings.  I  always  attended  those 
meetings  when  at  home.  There  had 
been  nothing  to  indicate  any  unusual 
religious  interest  on  the  part  of  the 
people,  either  there  or  elsewhere  on 
the  circuit,  so  far  as  I  could  observe, 
until  one  evening  in  early  winter  1 
went  to  the  prayer  meeting  as  usual 
and  to  my  astonishment  found  the 
school  house  filled  with  people,  some 
of  whom  were  entire  strangers  to 
me.  As  I  was  passing  up  the  aisle 
to  the  front,  Ben  Jones,  the  class 
leader,  pulled  my  sleeve  and  whis- 
pered to  me:  "Brother  Green,  you 
must  preach  tonight."  It  was  not 
the  custom  for  the  minister  to  preach 
a  sermon  at  the  week  day  prayer 
meeting,  so  I  had  not  come  prepared 
to  do  so.  "Why,"  I  replied,  "I  can't 
do  that,  I  have  made  no  preparation 
whatever,  and  I  can't  preach  without 
preparation."  "Oh,  never  mind 
that,"  he  said,  "you  will  do  well 
enough;  you  don't  need  to  preach 
much,  just  go  ahead  and  do  the  best 
you  can." 

So  I  went  up  to  the  desk  and 
gave  out  a  hymn,  and  while  they 
were  singing  it  I  selected  a  scripture 
lesson,  after  which  I  offered  the 
opening  prayer.  Then,  after  reading 
the     lesson,     I     announced     another 


hymn,  which  was  one  of  the  longest 
of  the  mcst  familiar  hymns  in  the 
book,  and  all  this  time  I  could  not 
make  a  choice  of  a  text,  try  as  I 
might.  I  really  did  not  know  what 
to  do,  the  more  I  tried  to  think  of 
one  the  more  befogged  I  became,  un- 
til, getting  desperate  as  the  congre- 
gation remorselessly  neared  the  end 
of  the  hymn  and  I  saw  no  way  out 
of  my  dilemma,  it  suddenly  occurred 
to  me  to  open  the  bible  and  grapple 
with  the  first  verse  upon  which  my 
eye  should  rest.  Well,  I  do  not  now, 
nor  have  I  ever  thought  that  God 
intended  a  minister  to  appear  before 
a  congregation  without  having  made 
due  preparation.  It  used  to  be  a 
theory  with  some  good  people  that 
study  for  the  pulpit  was  not  neces- 
sary on  the  part  of  the  preacher; 
some  of  my  parishoners  on  Summer 
Hill  circuit  held  that  view.  They 
believed  that  to  make  special  prep- 
aration was  to  fly  in  the  face  of 
Providence.  All  that  was  necessary 
was  to  open  the  mouth  and  God 
would  fill  it.  The  Holy  Spirit  would 
give  you  a  message  if  you  only  left 
the  matter  in  His  hands.  Of  course 
I  have  never  believed  that  God  could 
encourage  laziness  in  the  ministry, 
any  more  than  in  any  other  calling. 
I  am  sure  a  preacher  should  make 
every  reasonable  exertion  to  fit  him- 
self for  his  work,  and  other  things 
being  equal,  the  man  who  does  this 
and  then  when  he  gets  into  the  pul- 
pit stretches  himself  on  his  theme, 
will,  with  the  blessing  of  God,  be 
far  more  effective  than  the  preacher 
who  assumes  that  he  has  only  to 
open  his  mouth  and  God  will  fill  it 
without  any  preparation  on  his  part. 
When  the  congregation  had  finish- 
ed the  hymn  and  was  seated,  I  open- 
ed the  book  with  a  silent  prayer  for 
Divine  help  and  looking  down  upon 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


119 


it  I  saw  before  me  those  suggestive 
words  of  St.  Luke,  Acts  2:21:  "And 
it  shall  come  to  pass  that  whosoever 
shall  call  on  the  name  of  the  Lord, 
shall  be  saved."  I  had  found  my 
text.  It  was  wonderful;  I  might 
have  searched  the  bible  from  begin- 
ning to  end  and  found  nothing  more 
simple  or  more  suggestive  than  the 
words  before  me.  They  were  exactly 
fitted  to  the  occasion  and  furnished 
me  with  just  what  I  needed  for  the 
congregation.  To  be  sure  I  was  at 
first  all  at  sea  as  to  what  I  should 
say,  and  what  I  did  finally  say,  I 
know  not.  1  remember  at  this  dis- 
tant day,  over  forty  years  afterward, 
that  the  text  seemed  to  suggest  it- 
self to  me.  1  saw  the  word  "saved," 
and  that  meant  salvation,  which  was 
uppermost  in  my  thought  at  the 
moment,  and  1  talked  about  it  much 
as  a  preacher  would  do  now,  1 
think,  who  was  in  dead  earnest. 
Then  there  was  the  word  "call," 
which  meant  prayer,  a  very 
nece&sary  thing  in  the  acquirement, 
or  in  the  maintenance  of  the  relig- 
ious life,  and  1  urged  the  necessity 
and  importance  of  prayer  on  my 
congregation.  Finally  the  univer- 
sality of  the  offer  of  salvation  was 
before  me  in  the  text,  represented  in 
the  word  "whosoever."  These  three 
things  1  saw  at  a  glance  and  I  tried 
hard  to  make  the  people  see  them. 
Surely  it  was  an  impressive  occasion 
and  the  audience  was  thoughtful  and 
expectant.  1  announced  a  hymn  and 
invited  any  who  desired  to  be  saved 
to  stand  during  the  singing  of  the 
hymn.  Two  men  rose,  a  son  and  a 
son-in-law  of  the  class  leader,  Ben 
Jones.  At  the  conclusion  of  the 
hymn  I  called  upon  the  congrega- 
tion to  pray,  and  asked  Brother 
Jones  to  lead  us.  He  responded  most 
fervently  and  was  followed  by  oth- 
ers, whose  petitions  were  interspers- 


ed with  songs,  as  was  the  custom  in 
the  prayer  meeting.  Before  closing 
the  service  1  asked  the  people  if  they 
would  attend  another  meeting  the 
next  night  and  nearly  all  said  they 
would,  so  I  announced  services  for 
the  following  evening. 

That  night  there  were  some  con- 
versions and  the  next  night  there 
were  more.  The  word  went  out  over 
the  country  that  there  was  a  pro- 
tracted meeting  at  the  Falrtield 
school  house  and  the  people  began 
to  gather  in  from  all  sections  until 
the  building  was  crowded  to  suffoca- 
tion, it  could  hold  no  more.  One 
night  the  jam  was  so  great  that 
some  one  broke  one  of  the  windows 
to  let  in  fresh  air.  In  the  meantime, 
the  meetings  were  constantly  grow- 
ing in  interest,  conversions  were  tak- 
ing place  every  night,  some  ot  them 
being  very  remarkable.  The  "mourn- 
ers' bench"  was  crowded  on  Doth 
sides;  people  were  on  their  knees 
wherever  there  was  room  in  any  part 
of  the  house,  and  where  they  could 
not  find  room  to  kneel  down  they 
prayed  Vvhere  they  sat  or  where  they 
stood.  It  surpassed  anything  I  had 
ever  seen  before,  it  was  wonderful. 
Some  would  be  singing,  some  crying 
for  mercy,  others  silently  and 
thoughtfully  looking  on,  but  all  in- 
tensely interested.  The  meetings 
continued  for  nearly  two  months  and 
between  seventy  and  eighty  were 
added  to  the  church  at  that  appoint- 
ment. The  converts  were  almost 
without  exception  either  elderly  peo- 
ple or  young  married  people;  very 
few  children  v/ere  among  the  first 
fruits  of  the  revival.  I  think  that 
was  because  they  were  generally  left 
at  home  during  the  meetings  on  ac- 
count of  the  cold  and  the  limited 
capacity  of  the  school  house.  I^ater 
on  many  of  them  were  added  to  the 
number  who  joined  to  the  church. 


120 


THE   SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


One  night  when  the  crowd  was 
greatest  and  the  interest  high  as  I 
was  speaking  to  a  woman  kneeling 
at  the  mourner's  bench,  she  sudden- 
ly cried  out:  "Oh,  Mr.  Green,  go 
and  speak  to  my  husband."  I  saw 
him  near  the  door  looking  very 
solemn;  he,  like  many  others  in  the 
neighborhood,  was  originally  from 
the  north  of  Ireland.  I  said  to  him: 
"Mr.  M.,  don't  you  think  you  had 
better  go  and  join  your  wife  at  the 
altar?"  Faith,  I  believe  I  had,"  he 
replied  and  darted  off  like  a  shot, 
dropping  on  his  knees  beside  his 
v.-ife,  where  both  of  them  were  soon 
converted.  There  were  several  in- 
stances where  radical  changes  were 
wrought  in  the  character  and  man- 
ner of  life  of  many  housenolds, 
which  at  the  present  time  could 
hardly  occur  in  any  but  the  most 
crude  of  the  backwoods  settlements. 
In  one  instance  the  reformation  was 
so  marked  that  I  cannot  refrain 
from  making  mention  of  it,  though 
it  was  by  no  means  an  exceptional 
case,  for  there  were  others  of  like 
character,  though  none  quite  so 
prominent. 

It  was  a  family  who  lived  nearly 
two  miles  from  the  school  house,  on 
a  farm  among  the  hills.  The  moth- 
er was  a  good,  intelligent  woman 
who  wanted  her  children  to  grow  up 
in  the  enjoyment  of  better  advan- 
tages than  had  fallen  to  her  lot.  She 
was  a  neat,  clean  housekeeper,  but 
had  little  to  do  with  because  of  the 
husband,  who  was  not  a  bad  man  at 
heart,  was  unable  to  resist  the  liquor 
habit  which  had  fastened  itself  upon 
him.  The  consequence  was  that 
whenever  he  took  the  produce  of  the 
farm  to  market,  which  was  distant 
forty  miles  from  his  home,  and  re- 
quired an  absence  of  two  d?ys  and 
a   night,   he   almost  always   fell   into 


bad  company  and  generally  squand- 
ered in  the  saloons  about  all  he  had 
received  for  his  wheat  or  other  pro- 
duce. Before  the  revival,  his  wife 
told  me  when  I  asked  her  why  the 
children  never  came  to  Sabbath 
school,  that  they  were  without  de- 
cent clothes,  the  girls  had  no  shoes, 
and  the  older  ones  were  ashamed  to 
appear  barefooted  among  the  other 
children,  so  she  w^as  obliged  to  keep 
them  at  home.  The  revival  changed 
all  that.  One  night  I  noticed  the 
father  at  the  rear  of  the  school  house 
and  going  to  him,  I  took  him  by  the 
hand  and  said:  "Come."  Without 
a  word  he  followed  me  to  the  front 
of  the  school  house  where  he  fell  up- 
on his  knees  and  was  soundly  and 
happily  converted  to  God.  It  wag  a 
joyous  night  for  his  family,  for  they 
soon  began  to  reap  the  fruits  cf  his 
conversion.  One  of  the  first  things 
he  did  was  to  go  to  market  with  a 
load  of  grain  and  with  the  money 
he  received  for  it,  he  bought  shoes 
and  other  necessary  things  for  his 
wife  and  children.  The  change 
wrought  in  that  home  was  complete 
and  happy.  No  more  drunKeii  hus- 
band. No  more  heart-broken  wife. 
No  more  shoeless  children.  From 
that  time  forward  it  was  a  christian 
home.  There  was  plenty  to  eat  and 
plenty  to  wear.  The  family  became 
regular  attendants  at  church;  a 
mortgage  which  had  been  placed  on 
the  farm  and  which  would  have  grad- 
ually eaten  it  up  was  eventually  paid 
off;  the  property  was  redeemed  as 
well  as  its  owner.  The  Northwest- 
ern Christian  Advocate  was  subscrib- 
ed for  and  the  family  was  supplied 
with  good  reading,  and  what  had 
been  but  a  short  time  before  a  scene 
of  poverty,  squalor  and  wretched- 
ness, became,  under  the  power  of  the 
gospel,  a  happy  home. 


THE  SIMPLE   LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


121 


After  the  meetings  had  been  going 
on  for  several  weeks  I  began  to  feel 
worn  and  feared  I  would  have  to 
bring  them  to  a  close  unless  help 
could  he  had.  I  had  been  compelled 
to  provide  a  new  sermon  every  day 
for  a  long  time  and  in  view  of  my 
ignorance  and  inexperience  it  was  a 
tax  on  my  energies  that  none  but 
those  who  have  been  placed  in  like 
circumstances  can  appreciate.  The 
drain  was  beginning  to  tell  on  my 
health  and  I  felt  that  something 
must  be  done  to  relieve  the  strain. 
So  I  sent  to  Maquoketa,  where  the 
Rev.  William  Lease  was  pastor,  and 
urged  him  to  come  over  Into  my 
Macedonia  and  help  me.  He  kindly 
consented  to  do  so,  and  was  with  me 
for  three  or  four  nights,  preacliing 
each  evening  and  otherwise  assisting 
in  the  meetings,  thus  giving  me  a 
much  needed  rest.  But  it  soon  be- 
came apparent  to  him,  and  indeed  to 
others,  that  it  was  not  great  sermons 
that  was  needed  in  that  meeting,  for 
the  interest  suddenly  began  to  sag 
and  the  work  was  stayed  in  large 
measure.  Brother  Lease,  whose 
heart  was  in  the  work,  easily  recog- 
nized the  situation,  and  explaining 
it  to  me  declared  that  he  thought  he 
was  doing  us  no  good  and  the  wisest 
thing  for  him  to  do  would  be  to  re- 
turn home.  Of  course  I  tried  to 
dissuade  him,  but  without  avail  and 
he  took  his  departure,  leaving  the 
meetings  entirely  on  our  hands 
again.  Then  it  came  to  pass  that 
the  christian  workers,  who  had  to 
some  extent  ceased  their  efforts 
while  he  was  with  us,  thinking  they 
were  not  needed  so  much,  took  a 
new  hold  and  the  glorious  work 
several  important  things.  It  was  rich 
several  important  things.  It  was  rich 
in  its  related  fruitage.  First,  there 
was  the  large  number  of  conversions 


in  a  sparcely  settled  country,  where 
attendants  were  compelled  to  travel 
long  distances.  Some  of  the  conver- 
sions were  very  remarkable  as  to  the 
character  of  the  persons  saved  as 
well  as  the  far  reaching  results  to 
their  families  and  friends.  The 
question  of  politics  which  had  dis- 
turbed and  divided  the  community  so 
long  was  for  the  time  being  relegat- 
ed to  the  rear.  A  new  adjustment 
was  made  in  the  matter  of  line 
fences  so  that  they  no  longer  divided 
families  as  well  as  farms.  A  new 
church  was  built  to  take  the  place 
of  the  old  school  house  as  a  house 
of  worship,  and  what  to  me  person- 
ally was  of  supreme  importance  was 
that  I  had  received  my  answer  to  the 
great  question  that  had  so  troubled 
me  during  the  preceding  year.  For 
all  time  there  could  no  longer  be  any 
question  in  my  mind  as  to  my  call 
to  the  work  of  a  minister  of  the  gos- 
pel. On  that  question  I  was  at  rest 
and  from  that  time  to  this  I  have 
never  been  distured  about  it.  If  I 
had  been  a  great  preacher  or  an  ex- 
perienced evangelist  there  might 
have  been  room  for  doubt,  but  in  my 
case  there  could  be  none  whatever, 
for  that  revival  was  clearly  the  work 
of  God  and  God  alone,  and  to  him 
only  have  I  ever  a-^cribed  it.  I  say 
now  as  I  have  ever  said,  that  con- 
sidering the  condition  of  things  as 
they  had  existed  in  that  community 
for  years,  that  first  Thursday  even- 
ing prayer  meeting  when  so  many 
Btrans-ers  who  were  not  in  the  habit 
of  attending  Divine  worship  any- 
where were  present,  without  any  ap- 
parent special  reason  for  being 
there;  the  unusual  beginning  of  the 
meeting,  the  strange  finding  of  the 
text  and  the  remarkable  results  fol- 
lowing: all  the^e  things  have  ever 
tended  to  humble   me  as  an  Instru- 


122 


THE   SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


ment  in  the  hands  of  God,  to   whom 
be  all  the  glory. 

At  the  close  of  our  special  meet- 
ings the  parsonage  was  visited  by  a 
great  crowd  of  people  who  came  to 
us  with  donations.  They  brought  al- 
most everything  that  could  be  of 
use  in  a  rural  family  at  that  period 
and  some  things  that  could  not. 
Load  upon  load  of  wood,  enough  to 
last  us  for  a  year  was  piled  up  at 
our  back  door  and  afterward  men 
came  and  cut  it  up  into  stove  lengths. 
Hay,  corn  and  oats  for  the  horses,  a 
lot  of  chickens  and  a  turkey  or  two, 
great  loaves  of  bread,  hop  yeast  and 
salt  rising,  some  of  it  rye  but  most 
of  it  wheat,  hams  and  shoulders  of 
pork,  vegetables  of  all  kinds,  jellies 
and  juices,  apples,  tea,  coffee  and 
sugar;  dre'^s  goods  for  the  preacher's 
wife  and  little  things  for  the  babies. 
Oh,  it  was  great.  The  way  they 
hustled  about,  lurking  here  and 
there,  laughing  and  jesting  with  one 
another,  pushing  and  jostling  each 
other  in  the  crowded  rooms.  Great 
long  tables  were  improvised  out  of 
planks  and  wooden  horses  which  had 
been  brought  in  for  the  occasion, 
stretching  from  one  end  of  the  big 
room  which  served  for  parlor,  din- 
ing room  and  kitchen  to  the  other. 
Time  after  time  the  table  was  loaded 
with  good  things  and  then  cleared 
an"d  loaded  again.  It  was  a  feast  of 
fat  things  and  a  time  of  rejoicing. 
Baby  smeared  from  head  to  foot 
with  grease  and  molasses  was  having 
the  time  of  her  life;  the  women  all 
said  she  looked  just  like  her  papa, 
which,  considering  her  appearance 
just  at  that  time  was  rather  a  doubt- 
fvil  compliment.  Mamma  was  made 
much  of,  just  as  she  deserved,  for 
she  was  a  model  wife  for  a  preacher, 
or  for  anybody  else  for  that  matter; 
a  woman  whom  almost  everyone  lov- 


ed and  all  esteemed.  There  never 
was  a  better  to  my  notion.  But  all 
earthly  things  must  come  to  an  end, 
and  our  first  donation  was  no  ex- 
ception. It  was  very  late  when  it 
finally  broke  up  and  the  people  with 
many  hearty  expressions  of  good 
will,  departed  for  their  homes,  ap- 
parently happy. 

Soon  after  the  close  of  the  special 
revival  services  I  began  to  urge  the 
need  of  a  church  building  for  that 
community.  Then  there  was  trouble. 
Everyone  saw  the  need  of  a  church, 
but  the  trouble  arose  over  the  loca- 
tion. There  were  two  points  in  the 
patronizing  territory,  either  of  which 
would  do  very  well.  They  were  not 
more  than  a  mile  and  a  half  from 
each  other,  but  the  patronage  was 
so  evenly  divided  that  it  was  difficult 
to  determine  which  place  to  select. 
Both  sides  wanted  the  church  and 
eaoh  side  seemed  determined  to  se- 
cure it.  In  order  to  decide  the 
matter  with  as  little  friction  as  pos- 
sible, I  proposed  that  two  subscrip- 
tion papers  be  presented  to  each  per- 
son, thus  giving  everyone  an  oppor- 
tunity to  subscribe  to  either  paper 
or  both  if  they  chose  the  site  receiv- 
ing the  largest  subscription  to  have 
the  church.  There  was  some  de- 
murrage at  first,  but  it  was  finally 
agreed  to  and  I  immediately  began 
to  take  subscriptions.  After  canvass- 
ing every  home  in  the  neighborhood 
and  it  was  found  that  one  of  the 
sites  was  chosen  by  a  good  margin, 
we  at  once  laid  plans  for  the  erection 
of  the  building.  In  due  time  it  was 
completed  and  dedicated  under  the 
name  of  Center  Church,  which  it 
retains  to  this  day.  The  Annual 
Conference  that  fall  was  held  at  An- 
amosa,  beginning  September  3rd, 
Bishop    Matthew    Simpson    presiding. 


THE   SIMPLE   LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


123 


At  the  closing  session  my  name  was 
read  off  for  Sumner  Hill  circuit  for 
the  third  time,  and  I  returned  in 
good  spirits  to  resume  my  work 
among  old  friends. 

Special  services  were  held  during 
the  winter  at  Charlotte  and  Deep 
Creek,  with  quite  good  results.  At 
Charlotte,  especially,  where  quite  a 
number  were  converted  and  added 
to  the  church. 

On  February  5th,  1869,  our  first 
boy  baby  was  born,  whom  we  named 
Samuel  William,  after  his  two  grand- 
fathers. The  poor  little  fellow  had 
a  hard  time  of  it  the  first  year  of 
his  life,  for  he  suffered  a  long  time 
with  a  severe  attack  of  brain  fever, 
which  came  very  near  ending  his 
earthly  career.  It  was  only  because 
his  mother  gave  him  the  very  best 
of  care  that  he  finally  pulled 
through,  but  it  was  a  hard  struggle 
and  it  was  a  long  time  before  he 
fully  recovered. 

The  last  Quarterly  Conference  of 
the  year  was  held  in  the  new  cnurch, 
under  the  direction  of  the  Rev.  Elias 
Skinner,  who  had  been  appointed 
Presiding  Elder  the  fall  before. 

As  it  was  understood  that  we  were 
to  leave  the  charge  for  a  new  field 
at  the  approaching  Conference,  our 
friends  were  present  Vn  large  num- 
bers to  say  good  bye,  and  bid  us  God 
speed  in  our  work.  I  am  sure  most 
of  the  people  would  have  been  glad 
if  we  could  have  remained  longer, 
but  the  law  of  the  church  was 
against  a  pastorate  of  more  than 
three  years  in  succession  on  the 
same  charge,  so  we  were  prepared 
to  move. 

At  the  Annual  Conference,  which 
was  held  at  Independence,  I  was 
ordained    Deacon    by    Bishop    D.    W. 


Clark  and  appointed  to  Mill  Rock 
circuit. 

Upon  reaching  my  new  field  of 
labor  I  found  five  school  houses,  but 
no  church,  neither  was  there  a  par- 
sonage, so  we  made  our  home  with 
an  old  couple  at  Maquoketa,  renting 
part  of  their  house,  although  the 
nearest  appointment  was  ten  miles 
distant.  It  made  a  hard  day's  work 
on  Sunday,  for  I  held  three  and  part 
of  the  time  four  services,  and  had  a 
ride  of  between  thirty  and  forty 
miles,  leaving  home  in  the  morning 
and  not  getting  back  until  late  at 
night.  Of  course  we  saw  some  hard 
times  that  winter,  suffering  severely 
at  times  from  the  cold,  but  then  I 
enjoyed  g^ood  health  and  with  a 
mind  to  work  we  got  along  quite 
well.  A  revival  at  Monmouth  during 
i*he  winter  was  quite  successful,  re- 
sulting in  something  like  thirty  ad- 
ditions to  the  church.  The  follow- 
ing summer  a  parsonage  was  built 
at  Monmouth  which  was  ready  for 
occupancy  by  my  successor  in  the 
fall. 

One  of  the  old  time  camp  meet- 
ings was  held  that  year,  it  continued 
for  several  days  and  was  attended 
by  preachers  and  members  from 
neighboring  charges,  as  well  as  by 
the  home  people.  It  was  a  new  ex- 
perience to  me;  also  it  was  an  occa- 
sion to  be  remembered. 


CHAPTER  XX. 
My  next  appointment  was  Maquo- 
keta Circuit,  which  at  that  time  was 
looked  upon  as  one  of  the  most  desir-, 
able  of  its  class  in  the  Conference. 
It  included  the  territory  of  what  has 
since  been  known  as  the  Elwood  and 
the  Delmar  charges.  For  a  change, 
I  found  three  churches  and  a  first 
class     parsonage     as     my     heritage. 


124 


THE   SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


There  were  also  four  school  house 
appointments,  so  I  found  plenty  to 
do,  but  as  the  churches  and  school 
houses  were  comparatively  near  to 
each  other,  the  long  cold  rides  I  had 
been  accustomed  to  on  the  previous 
charges  were  not  required.  I  was 
accorded  a  warm  welcome  on  my 
first  appearance  at  the  different  ap- 
pointments and  was  at  once  made  to 
feel  that  I  was  among  friends.  Sure- 
ly, to  me,  the  lines  had  fallen  in 
pleasant  places. 

A  Methodist  minister  who  moves 
from  place  to  place  meets  with  ex- 
periences seldom  found  in  the  lives 
of  other  men.  At  one  of  the  churches 
upon  stepping  down  from  the  pulpit 
at  the  close  of  my  first  service,  a 
benevolent  looking  old  gentleman 
cam-e  up  to  me  and  grasping  my 
hand  shook  it  warmly,  as  he  said 
with  great  apparent  sympathy: 
"Well,  Brother  Green,  don't  be  dis- 
couraged. Brother  Milner  didn't 
preach  any  better  than  you  do  when 
he  first  came  here." 

The  Rev.  R.  W.  Milner,  who  was 
my  predecessor  had  been  much  be- 
loved and  deservedly  so,  for  he  was 
a  kind  hearted,  genial,  everyday 
sort  of  a  man  who  made  friends  and 
retained  them.  Between  Brother 
Milner  and  myself  there  sprang  up 
a  friendship  which  continued  until 
his  death,  which  took  place  at  Belle 
Plaine  in  1898.  At  his  request  which 
was  made  years  before,  I  conducted 
his  funeral  services,  in  the  presence 
of  a  great  congregation,  for  he  had 
many  friends,  and  it  seemed  to  me 
almost  as  if  I  was  officiating  at  the 
obsequies  of  a  member  of  our  own 
family. 

Of  course  I  knew  that  the  old 
gentleman  was  disposed  to  let  me 
down   easy  and   was   wholly  sincere. 


It  was  clear  he  meant  his  greeting  to 
be  for  my  encouragement,  though  I 
must  say  that  his  way  of  coming  at 
me  nearly  took  my  breath  away, 
even  with  the  instant  conviction  that 
though  his  name  was  not  Nathaniel, 
I  had  before  me,  "An  Israelite,  in- 
deed, in  whom  there  was  no  guile." 
And  so  it  proved,  for  as  long  as  I 
remained  in  that  country  I  had  no 
better  friend  than  that  same  artless 
brother. 

There  was  at  that  time  residing  on 
the  circuit  a  considerable  number  of 
River  Brethren,  as  they  were  called; 
a  sect  of  Bunkers  or  German  Bap- 
tists, a  simple,  unpretending  people, 
highly  respected  by  their  neighbors 
because  of  their  honesty  and  integ- 
rity. They  were  generally  quite  well 
off  financially,  living  in  good,  com- 
fortable homes  and  having  large 
farms  which  were  always  kept  in  a 
high  state  of  cultivation.  One  of  the 
peculiar  religious  ceremonies  of  the 
River  Brethren  was  the  washing  of 
each  other's  feet  in  their  public  gath- 
erings, a  ceremony  which  never  fail- 
ed to  attract  large  audiences,  drawn 
together  by  curiosity  and  other  mo- 
tives not  always  commendable.  I 
made  it  a  rule  to  attend  the  meetings 
of  the  "Brethren"  whenever  I  could 
do  so  without  interfering  with  my 
own  work,  for  I  had  great  respect 
for  those  good  people  and  seldom 
failed  to  get  good  from  their  ser- 
vices. 

One  Sunday  evening  I  had  taken 
our  little  six  year  old  girl,  Anna  with 
me  and  had  chosen  a  seat  well  to- 
ward the  front  of  the  church.  Upon 
invitation  of  one  of  the  preachers, 
however,  I  took  a  seat  on  the  plat- 
form, leaving  my  little  girl  where 
she  had  been  seated.  She  was  quite 
contented   to   remain   where  she  was 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


12;} 


through  the  opening  ceremonies  and 
during  the  sermon,  but  when  the 
brethren  began  to  wash  the  feet  of 
the  men,  and  the  sisters  approached 
each  other  with  the  same  Intent, 
Anna  took  alarm,  which  w^as  greatly 
increased,  when,  as  she  thought,  she 
saw  one  of  them,  a  sister  of  immense 
proportions  approaching  in  her  direc- 
tion with  bowl  and  towel.  I  had  no- 
ticed that  for  some  little  time  she 
had  appeared  quite  uneasy,  figeting 
about  in  her  seat  and  looking  around 
her  as  if  seeking  a  way  of  escape. 
I  had  thought  little  about  it,  assum- 
ing that  her  uneasiness  arose  from 
the  fact  that  she  had  been  sitting  in 
the  crowded  seat  so  long  and  was 
getting  tired.  But  that  was  not  the 
trouble  as  I  soon  learned,  for  when 
she  could  stand  it  no  longer  the  lit- 
tle thing  sprang  to  her  feet  and  with 
a  cry  of  alarm  which  startled  all 
who  were  sitting  near,  she  ran  up  to 
the  platform  crying:  "Papa,  papa, 
I  don't  want  them  to  wash  my  feet." 
I  lifted  her  to  my  knees,  at  the  same 
time  assuring  her  that  they  were  not 
going  to  wash  her  feet,  whereupon 
she  settled  down  on  my  lap  and  soon 
dropped  asleep.  Ihe  incident  caused 
a  broad  indulgent  smile  on  many 
faces,  but  the  services  were  not  in- 
terrupted at  all. 

The  class  leader  at  one  of  the 
preaching  places  entertained  a  vio- 
lent prejudice  against  the  use  of  an 
organ  in  the  church,  and  as  the 
young  people  insisted  on  having  one 
and  had  raised  the  money  among 
themselves  to  purchase  it  there  was 
war  for  a  time.  The  old  class  leader 
fought  against  it  with  all  his  might. 
He  was  almost  alone  in  his  opposi- 
tion to  be  sure,  but  that  made  no 
difference,  he  sturdily  maintained 
his  ground.     He  hurled  invectives  at 


it,  he  was  sarcastic,  intractible,  con- 
tumacious, cantankerous.  He  called 
it  a  mule  and  declared  that  he  would 
never  consent  to  its  braying  in  the 
church.  He  became  so  bitter  that  I 
was  really  alarmed,  fearing  his  obs- 
tinacy might  cause  a  division  in  the 
church.  He  complained  to  me  that 
the  young  people  were  no  longer  at- 
tending his  class  meetings  and  said 
the  organ  was  to  blame  for  it;  the 
devil  was  using  it  to  lead  them  away 
from  the  church;  it  was  causing 
them  to  backslide.  I  said  to  him: 
"John,  I  am  really  afraid  you  are 
yourself  to  blame  for  the  absence  of 
the  young  people  from  class  meet- 
ing. They  have  set  their  hearts  on 
1  aving  an  organ  to  steady  their  voi- 
ces and  to  improve  the  church  music, 
and  if  an  organ  can  be  used  to  ad- 
vantage in  other  places  I  don't  see 
why  it  should  be  tabood  here 
We  must  not  drive  our  young  peo- 
ple away  from  us  just  because  of  a 
foolish  prejudice."  "Well,"  he  re- 
plied, "I  don't  believe  in  worshiping 
God  by  machinery."  "Oh,"  I  said, 
"as  to  that  you  could  oppose  the  use 
of  written  music  and  even  of  hymn 
books  in  the  church  on  the  same 
grounds.  Now  if  you  will  withdraw 
your  open  opposition  to  the  organ, 
even  though  it  be  a  cross  to  listen  to 
it,  I  will  guarantee  that  your  young 
people  will  come  back  to  the  class 
meetings  and  the  dove  of  peace  will 
again  spread  her  white  wings  over 
us."  And  it  came  to  pass  even  so, 
for  all  opposition  to  the  organ  was 
withdrawn,  the  class  meetings  were 
again  attended  by  the  young  peo- 
ple and  we  heard  no  more  of  the 
war. 

During  the  winter  of  that  year  I 
held  protracted  meetings  at  three  or 
four  different  places.     Some  of  them 


12fi 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


were  quite  fruitful,  but  one  at  least 
was  disappointing.  It  was  at  Brook- 
field.  The  weather  was  bitterly  cold, 
which  interfered  with  the  attend- 
ance, giving  us  small  congregations. 
One  night  as  I  entered  the  church 
I  discovered  one  of  the  members,  an 
old  Englishman,  cramming  the 
stoves  with  hard,  dry,  second  growth 
hickory,  which  his  hired  man  had 
hauled  from  the  timber  north  of 
Maquoketa.  The  stoves  were  red 
hot,  and  the  room  was  fast  becoming 
uncomfortably  warm,  still  the  old 
man  was  busy  pushing  in  the  wood, 
while  half  a  dozen  old  cronies,  who 
had  come  early,  were  looking  on 
with  much  apparent  interest.  I  saw 
at  a  glance  that  something  was  up, 
so  as  soon  as  I  had  thrown  off  my 
overcoat  I  went  to  him  and  slapping 
him  on  the  back,  I  said:  "Johnny" 
(everybody  called  him  Johnny) 
"what  in  the  world  are  you  trying 
to  do?"  At  that  he  slowly  straighten- 
ed up  and  with  a  queer  twist  upon 
his  face  and  a  twinkle  in  his  eye,  he 
said:  "Haw,  I  thon't  if  we  was  go- 
ing to  'ave  hany  'eat  in  the  church, 
we'd  got  to  get  it  hout  of  the  stoves, 
there's  none  in  the  pulpit,"  and  with 
that  he  gave  an  extra  twist  to  his 
broad  face,  quietly  took  his  seat  and 
was  real  good  for  the  rest  of  that 
night.  It  was  not  very  long  how- 
ever, before  the  old  fellow,  who, 
with  all  his  jollity  was  subject  to 
occasional  fits  of  melancholy,  came 
to  me  and  without  giving  any  rea- 
son whatever,  said:  "You  may  take 
my  name  hoff  o'  the  class  book."  I 
looked  at  him  a  moment  and  then 
s?id:  "All  right,  off  it  goes."  He 
seemed  to  be  surprised  for  a  mo- 
ment, but  said  nothing,  and  turning 
on  his  heel  walked  away.  His  regu- 
lar seat  was  in  the  "Amen  corner," 


up  at  the  front  of  the  church  and  to 
one  side  of  the  pulpit:  The  next 
Sunday  after  telling  me  to  take  his 
name  from  the  record,  he  took  a 
seat  at  the  extreme  end  of  the  church 
nearest  the  door,  and  as  soon  as  ser- 
vices were  over  took  his  departure 
without  saying  a  word  to  anyone. 
The  following  Sunday  he  was  again 
at  church  and  took  a  seat  just  half 
way  toward  the  front,  leaving  again 
at  the  close  of  the  service  in  cold 
reserve.  The  third  Sunday  he  was 
present  again  and  this  time  marched 
boldly  up  to  the  front  and  took  his 
old  seat  in  the  "Amen  corner."  As 
I  stepped  down  from  the  pulpit  after 
the  sermon,  he  waddled  up  to  me  and 
with  considerable  anxeity  wanted  to 
know  if  I  had  "taken  it  hoff."  "No," 
I  replied,  "of  course  I  have  not."  His 
face  brightened  at  once  and  he  said: 
"Well,  you  needn't."  Poor  old  man; 
if  I  had  erased  his  name  from  the 
church  records  and  deprived  him  of 
membership  in  the  church,  it  would 
have  broken  his  heart  and  I  very 
well  knew  it. 

It  was  the  custom  of  the  old  man 
to  make  the  preacher  a  present  each 
year  of  two  half  grown  Chester 
White  pigs,  a  breed  which  he  stoutly 
maintained  was  the  finest  and  most 
profitable  in  the  world.  Many  a 
heated  argument  have  I  heard  be- 
tween him  and  breeders  of  other 
kinis  of  swine  touching  the  merits 
of  their  favorites.  I  used  to  pick 
up  a  gocd  deal  of  information  listen- 
ing to  those  arguments,  but  I  always 
favored  the  Chester  White,  which 
was  not  to  be  wondered  at,  I  think. 

The  parsonage  property  which 
formerly  belonged  to  a  congregation- 
al minister  from  whom  it  had  been 
purchased  by  our  people,  included 
five  acres  of  ground,  the  house,  barn 


THE  SIMPLE   LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


12' 


and  a  fine  apple  orchard  occupied 
two  acres  while  the  other  three  were 
under  cultivation.  In  the  spring  I 
had  it  plowed  and  sowed  with  oats 
and  grass  seed.  The  grain  yielded 
us  a  fine  crop  of  oats,  followed  in 
due  season  by  good  pasture  for  my 
horse  and  cow,  which  was  of  con- 
siderable help  toward  the  expenses 
of  the  family.  We  have  never  lived 
more  comfortably  in  any  parsonage 
than  on  Maquoketa  circuit,  and  in- 
deed at  the  present  time  there  are 
few  outside  of  the  larger  churches 
that  can  compare  with  it.  Of  course 
it  lacked  some  modern  improvements 
which  are  considered  a  necessity  at 
the  present  time,  but  it  made  up  for 
that  in  some  degree,  by  other  com- 
forts which  few  have  in  these  days. 
It  was  a  happy  change  after  the 
crude  house  at  Sumner  Hill  and  the 
cramped  apartments  of  the  preced- 
ing year.  It  was  there  our  youngest 
daughter,  Lucy,  was  born  on  the  8th 
of  February,  1871,  and  nearly  three 
years  later,  our  second  son,  whom 
we  named  Schuyler  Emory. 

The  Annual  Conference  in  the  fall 
of  1871  was  held  at  Clinton,  with 
Bishop  E.  R.  Ames  presiding.  It 
will  be  remembered  that  five  years 
earlier  he  had  presided  at  the  De- 
corah  Conference.  He  was  also  to 
be  with  us  again  later  on. 

In  view  of  my  extended  acquaint- 
ance at  Lyons  and  Clinton,  I  was  re- 
quested by  the  pastor  of  the  Clinton 
church  to  spend  a  few  days  before 
Conference  in  that  city,  and  assist 
him  in  looking  up  places  of  enter- 
tainment for  the  ministers  during 
their  stay  at  the  session.  This  I  was 
glad  to  do  since  it  gave  us  an  oppor- 
tunity to  make  a  brief  visit  among 
relatives  and  friends  at  Lyons,  before 
the  session  opened. 


One  day  while  passing  up  Main 
street  I  heard  some  one  shouting 
across  the  street,  and  upon  looking 
in  that  direction,  who  should  I  see 
but  Jake,  a  colored  boy  who  came  to 
us  in  the  army.  Jake,  who  was  a 
stout  young  fellow  of  twenty-four  or 
twenty-five,  had  made  his  escape 
from  his  southern  master  while  we 
were  in  Mississippi  or  Alabama,  and 
at  his  urgent  request,  I  had  engaged 
him  more  for  his  accommodation 
than  my  own,  for  already  I  had  one 
boy,  Billy,  whom  I  had  inherited 
from  Captain  Howard,  my  predeces- 
sor, so  that  my  needs  were  not  very 
pressing.  However,  I  took  Jake, 
who  stayed  with  Colonel  Howard,  af- 
ter I  had  left  the  service.  He  proved 
to  be  a  faithful  fellow  in  every  re- 
spect and  I  came  to  think  a  great 
deal  of  him.  Billy  did  not  at  firet 
take  kindly  to  the  arrangement;  he 
was  disposed  to  regard  Jake  as  an 
interloper,  who  had  come  to  oust 
him  out  of  his  position  or  at  least 
to  trample  upon  his  rights,  and  in- 
asmuch as  he  was  free  born  and  had 
never  been  a  slave,  while  Jake  was 
"nothin'  but  a  no  'count  nigger," 
who  had  never  been  free  until  he 
ran  away  and  came  to  us,  Billy 
would  turn  up  his  sable  nose  in  de- 
rision whenever  Jake's  virtues  were 
spoken  of.  But  as  Jake,  who  was 
much  older  than  Billy,  was  a  good 
nature^  fellow  and  seldom  resented 
his  remarks,  there  sprang  up  a 
strong  attachment  between  them  and 
they  got  along  nicely  together.  "Fob 
de  law's  sake  Marse  Cap'n,  am  dat 
you?"  "Why,  yes,  Jake,"  I  said, 
"where  in  the  world  did  you  come 
from?"  "I'se  up  f'om  de  Souf,  sah, 
and  'deed  I'se  mightly  glad  to  see 
you  lookin'  so  peart."  "And  I  am 
real    glad    to   meet   you    again,   Jake, 


128 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


my  boy;  the  North  seems  to  agree 
with  you."  "Ahm  likin'  dis  heah 
country;  ahm  livin'  in  Clinton;  ahm 
married,  Caipt'n."  "So.so,  I  hope 
you  are  enjoying  your  married  life. 
What  has  become  of  Billy?"  I  asked. 
"Don't  know  sah,  nebber  seed  him 
since  you  left  de  army,  ah  reckon  he 
'lined  some  other  company."  "Well, 
good  bye  Jake,  we  may  see  each 
other  again  and  have  a  chat.  I  am 
to  be  in  Clinton  about  a  week,"  I 
said,  but  that  was  the  last  I  ever 
saw  of  him. 

At  the  General  Conference  of  1868 
provisions  had  been  made  for  the  en- 
try of  Lay  Delegates  to  that  body, 
which  up  to  that  time  had  been  com- 
posed of  ministers  only,  so  that 
every  Conference  was  required  to 
elect  two  Lay  Delegates,  in  addition 
to  its  ministerial  representation.  In 
compliance  with  this  new  law  D.  N. 
Cooley  of  Dubuque  and  Hiram  Price 
of  Davenport  were  chosen;  each  An- 
nual Conference  being  allowed  one 
ministerial  delegate  for  every  forty- 
five  members,  and  one  for  a  fraction 
over  thirty.  It  was  at  that  session 
I  was  ordained  Elder,  having  com- 
pleted my  studies  in  the  course  and 
served  four  years  as  a  traveling 
preacher.  No  change  was  made  in 
my  appointment  ,  for  I  was  returned 
to  Maquoketa  circuit  for  another 
year,  which  greatly  pleased  my 
wife,  as  she  was  loath  to  leave  the 
fine  parsonage  and  the  kind  friends 
she  had  made  on  the  circuit. 

During  the  year  following,  the 
Iowa,  Midland  railroad,  running 
from  Clinton  to  Anamosa,  was  built. 
Most  of  the  way  it  followed  the  old 
roadbed  of  what  was  formerly  known 
as  the  "Calico  Road,"  a  line  wliich 
had  been  projected  and  partly  grad- 
ed as  early  as   1858,  but  which  had 


been  abandoned  for  want  of  sUiffi- 
cient  funds  to  complete  it,  or  for 
some  other  unknown  reason.  It  had 
been  dubbed  the  "Calico  Road,"  be- 
cause what  little  the  workmen  re- 
ceived was  paid  them  in  orders  on 
the  stores,  instead  of  cash,  which 
was  difficult  to  obtain  in  those  days. 
It  was  said  at  the  time  that  two  or 
three  men  acquired  much  wealth  out 
of  the  scheme  at  the  expense  of  many 
others.  The  Midland  first  touched 
my  territory  at  a  point  a  mile  or  so 
east  of  the  parsonage  and  seven 
miles  from  Maquoketa.  The  road 
was  built  and  has  always  been  oper- 
ated by  the  Chicago  and  Northwest- 
ern. 

While  the  road  was  in  process  of 
construction  it  occurred  to  me  that 
we  might  make  a  little  money  out 
of  it  toward  the  payment  of  a  debt 
on  the  parsonage.  So  I  went  down 
to  Clinton  and  interviewed  the  au- 
thorities there.  I  was  quite  well 
acquainted  with  some  of  them,  so  I 
had  no  trouble  in  arranging  for  an 
excursion  from  the  end  of  the  line  to 
Clinton  and  return.  I  contracted 
with  them  for  six  passenger  ears, 
also  arranging  for  a  short  excursion 
on  the  Mississippi  river  as  part  of 
the  trip.  It  was  planned  that  on  the 
night  before  the  day  on  which  the 
excursion  was  to  take  place  the  train 
should  run  out  to  Monmouth,  the 
starting  point,  and  remain  there  un- 
til six  o'clock  next  morning.  I  then 
advertised  the  trip  thoroughly  in  the 
Maquoketa  papers  and  from  my  own 
pulpit,  awaiting  with  much  anxiety 
the  time  for  the  start.  Five  or  six 
of  my  friends  went  with  me  to  Del- 
mar  .Junction,  where  we  took  the 
train  for  Monmouth.  The  road-bed 
west  of  Maquoketa  being  then  in 
course    of    construction    was    so     un- 


THE   SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


r->!t 


even  that  we  were  obliged  to  move 
with  great  caution.  Frequent  stops 
were  made  to  let  down  fence  rails 
which  had  been  placed  across  the 
road  to  keep  the  cattle  off  the  track. 
In  the  morning  these  rails  were  all 
removed  and  there  wa  nothing  to 
interfere  with  the  running  of  the 
train,  so  at  the  appointed  time,  with 
a  goodly  number  from  Monmouth 
and  adjacent  country,  amid  much 
blowing  of  whistles  and  great  mer- 
riment among  the  passengers,  we 
made  the  start.  The  train  filled  up 
as  we  pushed  on,  until  at  Delmar  the 
cars  became  so  jammed  that  the 
crowd  overflowed  into  the  express 
car  against  the  protest  of  the  train- 
men, bit  as  we  assurred  them  that 
we  would  be  responsible  for  any 
damage  that  might  occur,  they  final- 
ly, good  naturedly  assented,  and 
everything  passed  off  to  our  satis- 
faction. After  several  hours  in  Clin- 
ton and  on  the  river,  the  excursion 
returned  with  a  noisy,  happy  throng 
in  the  evening.  We  cleaned  up  some- 
thing over  four  hundred  dollars  from 
the  venture,  which  was  very  gratify- 
ing. 

Socn  after  the  completion  of  the 
Midland,  another  line  was  built  by 
the  C,  M.  and  St.  P.  from  Daven- 
port to  Maquoketa.  It  intersected 
the  Midland  at  Delmar.  Still  later, 
the  same  company  pushed  its  main 
line  west  from  Savannah  to  Omaha, 
crossing  the  other  two  roads  at  Del- 
mar, which  wa^  the  name  given  the 
new  railroad  center.  It  was  reported 
at  the  time  that  the  name  was  chosen 
by  the  authorities  of  the  Midland 
read  from  the  names  of  the  first  six 
lady  passengers  who  rode  over  it; 
the  first  letter  of  their  surnames 
making  the  word  "Delmar."  I  can- 
not vouch  for  the  truth  of  the  story. 


I   give  it  only  as  it  was  reported  at 
the  time. 

The  coming  of  the  railroads  rend- 
ered the  building  of  a  church  at  Del- 
mar a  necessity,  and  I  began  to  get 
busy.  The  official  members  at  that 
end  of  the  circuit  were  called  to- 
gether and  steps  were  taken  toward 
securing  a  subscription.  Unfortun- 
ately the  night  for  which  the  meet- 
ing was  called  turned  out  to  be  one 
of  the  coldest  of  the  winter  and  only 
three  or  four  were  present.  How- 
ever, after  talking  the  matter  over, 
we  concluded  to  build  a  small  church 
suited  to  present  needs,  but  capable 
of  enlargement  whenever  the  popula- 
tion of  the  town  increased  sufficient- 
ly to  call  for  it.  I  made  no  attempt 
to  secure  the  amount  required  by  the 
law  of  the  church,  that  is  two-thirds 
of  the  sum  estimated  as  necessary 
for  the  erection  of  the  structure,  be- 
fore beginning  to  build,  for  I  was 
quite  sure  money  enough  could  be 
raised  at  the  dedication  to  pay  for 
it.  As  a  starter,  however,  those  who 
were  present  at  the  meeting  gave  me 
exactly  thirty-seven  dollars,  which 
we  thought  would  be  necessary  for 
some  small  expenses.  With  that  sum 
in  hand  we  began  the  erection  of  the 
first  church  in  Delmar  on  a  suitable 
plat  of  ground  which  had  been 
donated  to  us  by  the  owners  of  the 
town  site.  I  made  no  further  effort 
to  secure  funds  until  the  church  was 
completed  and  ready  for  occupancy. 
On  the  day  of  dedication  the  entire 
indebtedness  was  easily  provided  for. 
A  few  years  later  it  became  neces- 
sary to  enlarge  the  building  and  re- 
cently a  new  and  beautiful  structure 
was  erected  on  the  site  of  the  old 
cne.  I  had  the  pleasure  of  attending 
the  dedication,  where  I  met  a  few  of 
mv  old  friends  who  were  still  living, 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


but  most  of  them  had  gone  to  their 
reward. 

Among  the  many  other  reasons  for 
which  we  shall  always  remember 
Maquoketa  circuit  is  the  large  num- 
ber of  weddings  I  was  called  to  at- 
tend. It  is  safe  to  say  that  I  per- 
formed more  marriage  ceremonies 
that  second  year  than  in  any  other 
twelve  months  of  my  ministerial  life, 
except  perhaps,  during  my  pastorate 
at  Toledo,  which  was  a  county  seat. 

One  afternoon  a  young  couple 
came  to  the  parsonage  to  be  married 
and  after  the  ceremony  the  bride- 
groom began  diving  down  into  the 
pockets  of  his  trousers  in  search  of 
the  fee,  which,  after  several  joyous 
efforts  he  finally  succeeded  in  un- 
loau-ng  on  the  table  in  front  of  him. 
The  fee,  which  he  made  three  dol- 
lars was  all  in  nickels;  there  were 
sixty  of  them  and  it  required  sev- 
eral excusions  down  into  the  capa- 
cious depths  of  his  Sunday  trousers 
before  he  managed  to  get  them  all 
fished  up  and  stacked  on  the  table, 
but  he  seemed  to  enjoy  his  labors 
and  I  am  quite  sure  the  preacher 
and  his  wife  did,  while  the  little 
ones  looked  on  with  interest,  and 
the  bride  blushed  very  prettily  and 
said:  "Why,  John,"  and  John  ex- 
plained that  he  had  been  saving  up 
the  nickels  for  a  long  time  expecting 
to  make  five  dollars  worth,  but  they 
came  so  slowly  that  after  three  dol- 
lars worth  had  been  accummulated 
he  found  he  could  not  wait  any  long- 
er. We  had  a  good  laugh  over  the 
incident,  while  John  and  Mrs.  John 
took  their  departure  to  all  appear- 
ances quite  happy  in  the  possession 
of  each  other.  God  bless  John  and 
his  bride.  May  their  number  never 
decrease.      May   the  American   home 


never  become  less  stable  or  less  hap- 
py than  it  is  this  day. 

By  the  end  of  the  year  the  circuit 
had  become  too  large  and  unwieldly 
for  one  man  to  handle,  so  it  was 
thought  best  to  divide  it,  therefore 
at  the  Conference  which  was  held  at 
Clinton  that  fall,  the  division  was 
made.  The  name  Maquoketa  circuit 
was  dropped  and  in  its  place  appear- 
ed Elwood,  which  embraced  the  west 
end  and  Delmar  the  east.  O.  D. 
Bowles  was  appointed  to  Elwood  and 
H.  H  Green  to  Delmar.  The  division 
made  Elwood  much  the  strongest  fin- 
ancially, but  there  was  that  parson- 
age again,  and  as  Delmar  was  yet  in 
its  infancy,  requiring  some  nursing 
it  was  thought  that  the  old  pastor, 
who  was  familiar  with  the  ground, 
might  be  better  fitted  to  cope  with 
the  problem  of  its  development  than 
a  stranger,  who  knew  nothing  of 
existing  conditions.  The  year  passed 
very  pleasantly  for  us,  nothing  of 
special  interest  occurred  and  at  the 
following  Conference  we  were  as- 
signed to  Wyoming,  our  first  station, 
where  there  was  but  one  preaching 
place.  Arriving  at  Wyoming,  where 
there  was  no  parsonage,  we  rented  a 
comfortable  house,  which  became 
our  home  for  the  next  three  years. 
We  were  pleasantly  received  by  the 
Methodist  people,  and  at  once  enter- 
ed  upon  our   work  in  good  heart. 

There  were  only  two  churches  in 
the  town,  the  Presbyterian  and  our 
own.  It  did  not  take  us  long  to  dis- 
cover that  the  relations  between  the 
churches  were  not  as  cordial  as  they 
might  have  been.  For  some  reason 
they  were  not  working  together  har- 
moniously; no  serious  trouble,  only 
just  a  little  friction,  hardly  discern- 
ible beyond  a  few  of  the  leading 
members  in  each  church,  and  yet  suf- 


THE   SIMPLE   LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


i:n 


ficiently  acute  to  attract  attention 
and  cause  remarks.  Upon  making 
this  discovery,  I  at  once  opened  ne- 
gotiations with  the  Presbyterian 
minister,  the  Rev.  A.  K.  Baird, 
whose  garden  cornered  with  mine.  It 
was  our  custom  to  assemble  our- 
selves at  the  corner  and  with  our 
hoes  in  our  hands,  discuss  the  situa- 
tion as  we  leaned  over  the  fence  on 
a  summer  afternoon.  Of  course  we 
soon  came  to  an  understanding  with 
each  other.  A  warm  friendship  g]-ew 
up  between  us,  which  continued  un- 
marred  as  long  as  we  remained  in 
the  same  town.  Whatever  friction 
had  existed  between  the  churches 
was  gradually  removed  and  we  all 
worked  together  in  the  common 
cause  We  were  blessed  with  gocd 
revivals  each  winter,  which  greatly 
strengthened  the  church  and  added 
many  to  its  membership.  It  was  dur- 
ing the  second  year  at  Wyoming  that 
our  third  son  was  born,  August  3rd, 
18  75.  Mother  and  the  children  in- 
sisted on  naming  him  Harry,  after 
his  father,  and  for  a  second  name  it 
was  decided  to  call  him  Joseph,  in 
honor  of  Joseph  Conway,  my  old 
schoolmate  and  most  intimate  friend, 
who  it  will  be  remembered  was  also 
my  First  Lieutenant  in  the  army. 

In  the  spring  of  our  third  year  at 
Wyoming  I  made  an  appointment  to 
preach  at  a  school  house  several 
miles  northeast  of  town,  holding  ser- 
vices there  every  alternate  Sunday 
afternoon.  I  found,  however,  that 
this  addition  to  my  regular  work  was 
too  much  for  me,  and  was  obliged  to 
give  it  up  after  my  health  had  be- 
come so  impaired  as  to  require  a  lay- 
off for  a  time. 

Our  people  kindly  gave  me  a  vaca- 
tion, which  I  spent  with  the  family 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  M.  D.  Fox,  relatives, 


who  were  living  on  a  farm  in  Sac 
county.  It  was  harvest  time  and  I 
thought  to  help  the  folks  what  little 
I  could  in  the  fieLl.  I  don't  tinnk 
.Mr.  Fox  had  very  much  confidence  in 
my  usefulness  as  a  field  hand,  and  as 
a  matter  of  fact  I  had  very  little  my- 
self; however  he  thought  I  might  be 
able  to  drive  the  team  on  the  reaper, 
and  I  thought  so  too,  so  I  mounted 
the  throne  and  we  began  the  work. 
What  with  the  use  of  the  whip  which 
I  flourished  a  good  deal  in  the  air 
over  the  team,  and  by  dint  of  much 
shouting  at  the  horses  we  managed  to 
get  on  fairly  well.  It  was  my  mis- 
fortune however,  to  do  too  much 
shouting  in  the  open  air.  Now  forty 
years  ago  when  a  young  minister  was 
received  into  an  Annual  Conference, 
he  was  required  to  promise  several 
things,  one  of  which  was  this:  "Will 
you  endeavor  not  to  speak  too  long, 
nor  too  loud?"  Had  I  remembered 
that  requirement  amid  the  wheat 
fields  of  Sac  county  it  would  have 
been  well  for  me,  but  alas,  I  remem- 
bered it  not,  and  was  punished  for 
my  remissness  in  the  loss  of  my 
voice;  gradually  it  went  from  me 
until  I  was  finally  unable  to  speak 
above  a  whisper.  Now  forty  or  fifty 
years  ago  a  Methodist  preacher  with- 
out a  voice  was  not  rated  very  high ; 
indeed  there  were  some  ungodly  per- 
sons who  went  so  far  as  to  say  that 
the  Methodist  preachers  of  the  earlier 
day  were  about  all  voice.  That  there 
may  have  been  some  grounds  for 
these  animadversions  would  appear, 
if  we  may  judge  from  a  discussion  I 
once  heard  between  two  preachers  of 
our  Conference,  who  were  certainly 
authorities  upon  the  subject.  No  one 
who  ever  heard  either  Richard 
Swearengen  or  S.  Y.  Harmer,  would 
question   for  an   instant  their  fitness 


132 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


for  such  discussion  It  was  at  a  min- 
isterial meeting  at  Maquoketa,  where 
Brother  Swearengen  was  pastor,  the 
subject  under  discussion  was  "The 
Preacher's  Voice,"  and  Brother  Har- 
mer  replying  to  some  remark  made 
by  Brother  Swearengen  said:  "When 
he  is  preaching  here  in  Maquoketa 
with  the  windows  of  his  church  open, 
and  I  am  preaching  with  mine  open 
at  Sabula,  our  voices  meet  on  the 
top  of  Sumner  Hill." 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

I  attended  Conference  which  was 
held  at  Maquoketa  that  fall,  but  it 
was  with  many  misgivings.  The  out- 
look for  the  future  was  discouraging 
to  say  the  least;  unable  to  talk  aloud 
I  was  useless  as  a  preacher.  Bishop 
Foster,  who  was  the  presiding  officer, 
told  me  at  the  opening  of  the  Confer- 
ence that  he  would  reserve  a  place 
until  the  close  of  the  session  and 
then  if  I  thought  I  would  be  able  to 
do  the  work  within  a  reasonable  time 
he  would  give  me  a  charge.  I  was 
told  that  two  churches  had  asked 
for  me  and  were  willing  to  take  their 
chances  on  my  becoming  efficient. 
After  carefully  pondering  the  matter, 
however,  I  concluded  that  it  would 
be  wrong  to  burden  any  church  with 
so  helpless  a  preacher  as  I  was  at  the 
time,  and  so  at  the  close  of  the  Con- 
ference I  concluded  to  ask  for  a 
superannuated  relation,  which  was 
readily  granted  me. 
"  How  to  support  my  wife  and  six 
small  children  through  the  winter 
was  the  problem  that  confronted  me. 
With  nothing  to  live  on  save  a  small 
amount  which  would  be  exhausted  in 
a  few  days.  I  was  much  troubled 
over  the  situation,  not  knowing  what 
to  do  or  where  to  turn  my  hand.  For 
seven  years  I  had  been  extolling  the 


beauties  of  faith,  exhorting  my  con- 
gregations to  trust  in  God  in  the 
hour  of  trial,  and  now  in  my  own 
case,  conditions  were  such  as  to  call 
for  the  kind  of  faith  that  would 
move  mountains.  Such  a  measure  of 
faith  was  given  not  to  me  alone,  for 
in  those  days  there  was  always  a 
tower  of  strength  right  by  my  side; 
a  noble  example  of  patient  submis- 
sion, a  splendid  courage,  a  bright, 
cheerful,  happy  disposition  and  bear- 
ing that,  utterly  unmindful  of  self, 
sought  only  to  encourage  her  hus- 
band and  lead  him  to  put  unwaver- 
ing trust  in  God.  He  is  a  happy 
man,  who  is  blessed  with  such  a 
helpmate.  We  began  our  super- 
annuated life  by  renting  and  moving 
into  a  cheaper  house,  as  many  an- 
other has  done  before  us,  as  many 
another  has  since  done  and  as  others 
will  continue  to  do  in  future  years. 
But  we  got  along  very  comfortably  in 
our  smaller  house.  The  superanuate's 
wife  was  a  good  manager;  she  made 
everything  go  as  far  as  possible.  \ve 
lived  economically,  and  were  quite 
happy.  There  was  no  danger  of  our 
suffering  in  any  way,  for  we  were 
hardly  settled  in  our  new  home  be- 
fore we  were  surprised  by  a  visit 
from  our  friends,  who,  regardless  of 
church  relations  came  in  great  num- 
bers and  literally  filled  the  house 
with  such  things  as  were  need- 
ed for  the  winter,  including  fuel, 
food  of  all  kinds,  and  clothing  for 
the  family.  Our  hearts  were  filled  with 
gratitude  to  God  and  to  those  good 
people.  But  that  was  not  all.  Mr. 
J.  K.  Bronson,  a  prominent  merchant 
of  the  town  offered  me  a  clerkship  in 
his  store,  which  I  thankfully  accept- 
ed, for  it  promised  to  place  us  on  our 
feet  again.  My  voice  gradually  came 
back    to    me    and    before    the    winter 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


133 


was  more  than  half  gone  I  was  as 
well  as  ever.  One  morning  Capt.  A. 
M.  Loomis,  a  dry  goods  merchant 
just  across  the  street,  who  was  a 
member  of  the  Presbyterian  church 
and  a  fine  singer,  came  to  me  and 
said:  "Brother  Green,  now  that  you 
have  recovered  your  voice,  I  have  a 
proposition  to  make  to  you.  All 
around  Wyoming  there  are  churches 
and  school  houses  where,  it  seems  to 
me  we  might  do  some  good  work  in 
the  way  of  revival  meetings.  Now 
I  can  sing  and  you  can  preach.  I 
have  a  good  horse  and  cutter,  and  if 
you  say  so,  I  will  obtain  permission 
to  use  the  buildings,  and  we  will 
start  out  a  la  Moody  and  Sankey  and 
see  what  good  we  can  do.  We 'can 
leave  here  in  time  in  the  evening, 
ani  returning  after  services  be  ready 
for  business  next  morning."  Of 
course  I  readily  assented  and  we 
beean  our  meetings  in  the  Presby- 
terian church  at  Onslow.  We  met 
with  good  success  there  and  leaving 
the  meetings  to  be  continued  by 
others,  we  began  in  another  place, 
west  of  town.  For  several  weeks 
meetings  were  held  in  different 
places,  until  the  entire  surrounding 
country  was  awakened  and  many 
were  converted  and  added  to  the  dif- 
ferent churches.  In  the  spring,  soon 
after  the  meetings  were  closed,  a 
purse  of  money  was  presented  to  me 
by  the  people  at  the  places  where 
the  meetings  had  been  held,  a  slight 
token  of  their  appreciation  as  they 
said. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  I  re- 
ceived a  letter  from  the  Rev.  Wil- 
liam Lease,  Presiding  Elder  of  the 
Marshalltown  district,  offering  me 
the  pastorate  of  the  church  at  Tole- 
do which  had  become  vacant  through 
the  resignation  of  the  preacher,  who 


had  received  and  accepted  a  call  to 
a  pulpit  in  Baltimore.  I  gladly  ac- 
cepted the  invitation  and  at  once 
went  to  Toledo,  where  I  was  to  offi- 
ciate the  following  Sunday,  by  way 
of  a  trial.  Our  people  there  said 
they  thought  I  might  do  and  so  the 
following  week  we  removed  to  the 
new  field.  How  little  we  know  of 
what  is  before  us,  and  how  true  are 
the  words  of  Israel's  great  bard: 
"Weeping  may  endure  for  a  night, 
but  joy  cometh  in  the  morning."  It 
proved  so  to  me  for  the  future  that 
I  had  so  much  dreaded  the  autumn 
before  and  had  entered  upon  with 
so  many  misgivings,  proved  to  be 
very  different  from  what  I  had  pic- 
tured it.  So  far  from  suffering  in 
any  way  from  lack  of  funds  to  pro- 
vide fcr  the  family,  as  I  had  feared, 
the  year,  all  things  considered,  prov- 
ed to  be  one  of  the  very  best  of  my 
ministerial  life.  We  received  more 
money  and  were  presented  with  more 
useful  and  valuable  gifts  than  ever 
before,  and  so  the  days  passed  hap- 
pily and  busily  until  we  took  our  de- 
parture for  the  new  field.  After  that 
experience  I  often  used  as  a  text 
those  blessed  words  of  Paul,  which 
were  shown  to  be  so  true  in  our  own 
case:  "And  we  know  that  all  things 
work  together  for  good  to  them  that 
love   God." 

Among  the  many  friendships  we 
enjoyed  at  Wyoming  there  were  none 
that  we  more  highly  prized  than  that 
of  Dr.  M.  H.  Calkins  and  family,  who 
were  so  kind  to  us  in  our  lime  of 
need. 

Our  pastorate  at  Toledo  was  not 
marked  by  anything  deserving  of 
special  mention,  so  far  as  the  work 
in  the  home  church  was  concerned. 
Special  religious  meetings  were  held 
each   winter  but   without  any  extra- 


134 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


ordinary  results.  There  were  sev- 
eral colored  people  connected  with 
the  church,  some  of  whom  were  old 
fashioned  Methodists,  who  had  been 
slaves  before  the  war.  One  of  them, 
a  local  preacher  by  the  name  of 
Lewis,  occasionally  officiated  among 
his  own  people  at  Des  Moines  and 
other  places  farther  south  where 
there  were  colored  people  in  num- 
bers sufficient  to  form  congregations. 
"Mammy"  Lewis,  his  wife,  was  a  de- 
voted friend  of  the  preacher's  fam- 
ily for  whom  she  was  always  trying 
to  do  something  in  her  motherly 
way.  She  never  seemed  to  forget 
the  relations  between  the  whites  and 
the  negroes  in  the  South,  and  was 
always  respectful  as  in  the  olden 
times.  She  insisted  on  doing  our 
washing  and  taking  care  of  the  chil- 
dren. Mrs.  Green  delighted  to  have 
her  with  us.  It  reminded  her  of  her 
childhood  when  she  was  cared  for 
by  an  old  colored  nurse  in  a  border 
state,  to  whom  she  became  much  at- 
tached. "Mammy  "  Lewis  steadily 
refused  to  take  pay  for  her  services 
and  it  was  seldom  we  could  induce 
her  to  take  money  or  anything  more 
than  some  half  worn  clothing,  or  a 
little  corn  bread  and  bacon.  She  was 
a  good  hearted  old  soul  who  com- 
pletely won  our  hearts  by  her  un- 
selfish devotion  to  the  family.  What 
a  picture  she  presented  seated  at  the 
back  door  of  the  parsonage,  croon- 
ing over  the  children  and  liumming 
over  the  old,  old  hymns  of  her  slave 
days  to  them. 

The  Musquakees,  a  tribe  of  the 
Sac  and  Fox  Indians,  anout  three 
hundred  in  number,  having  their 
abiding  place  on  a  reservation  south- 
west of  Tama,  on  the  Iowa  river, 
regularly  visited  Toledo,  where  they 
were  paid  their  annuity  by  the  gov- 


ernment agent.  Major  Free.  Always 
the  merchants  of  the  town  gave 
them  credit  for  goods  which  were 
invariably  paid  for  when  they  re- 
ceived their  money  from  the  gov- 
ernment, once  a  month.  Mr.  W.  F. 
.Johnston,  one  of  the  leading  mer- 
chants, told  me  that  he  had  never 
lost  anything  by  the  Indians  except 
in  one  instance.  The  red  men  were 
honest.  It  was  an  interesting  sight 
to  witness  the  invasion  of  the  town 
by  these  people.  They  Invariably 
rode  in  on  their  ponies,  the  squaws 
carrying  their  papooses  in  baskets 
-  strapped  to  their  backs,  a  aroll  sight 
to  one  who  had  never  before  wit- 
nessed it.  Their  entry  into  the  city 
was  signalized  by  the  barking  of 
dogs.  Every  dog  in  the  town  would 
set  up  a  howl  upon  their  a'pproach 
and  immediately  disapf)ear,  seeking 
shelter  under  the  house  or  anywhere 
else  to  get  out  of  sight  of  the  dread- 
ed enemy.  And  well  they  might,  for 
they  very  well  knew  that  they  were 
in  constant  danger.  There  was 
neither  safety  nor  peace  for  them  so 
long  as  an  Indian  was  lurking  in  the 
vicinity.  The  dog  feared  the  Indian 
as  much  as  he  would  fear  a  moun- 
tain lion,  for  he  knew  the  Musqua- 
kee  loved  him,  alas,  "not  wisely  but 
too  well."  As  the  time  would  ap- 
proach for  the  great  annual  dog 
feast  of  the  tribe  which  was  a  great 
occasion,  for  Lo,  the  reign  of  terror 
for  the  canine  with  the  yellow  hide 
began,  and  it  continued  while  the 
feast  lasted,  rendering  life  utterly 
miserable  for  the  yellow  hided  vic- 
tim  of  those  perverted   palates. 

One  day  I  witnessed  the  writhings 
of  terror  displayed  by  one  of  those 
yellow  canines,  who  was  a  captive  in 
the  toils  of  a  full  grown  Indian. 
The    dignified    native    had    made    the 


THE  SIMPLE   LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


135 


capture  somewhere  in  the  outskirts 
of  the  town  and  was  making  his  way 
with  his  prize  to  the  place  of  ren- 
devous.  With  a  short  rope  tied 
around  the  dogs  neck  he  was  lead- 
ing, or  rather  dragging  the  unwill- 
ing victim  along  with  an  admirable 
abandon  and  utter  disregard  of 
what  people  might  say  or  think.  To 
be  sure  he  bravely  maintained  an 
outward  calm,  which  he  may  or  may 
not  have  felt.  He  never  once  looked 
either  to  the  right  or  left  or  behind 
him,  while  the  wretched  candidate 
for  the  soup  kettle  hung  back,  as 
well  he  might,  and  at  every  other 
step  or  so  gave  out  a  blood-curd- 
ling, "yep,  yep,"  which  ought  to 
have  touched  the  on-lookers  heart 
and  moved  it  with  pity.  But  evi- 
dently it  did  not;  the  poor  captive 
had  no  friends  among  the  pale  faces. 
What  yellow  dog  ever  had?  He  was 
led  away  to  the  torture  and  the 
slaughter  in  the  way  that  many  of 
his  forefathers  had  gone  before  him. 
There  was  quite  a  large  backyard 
and  garden  connected  with  the  par- 
sonage, in  which  there  were  several 
full  grown  apple  trees.  It  made  a 
nice  playground  for  the  children, 
who  enjoyed  it  fully.  One  afternoon 
while  working  with  my  hoe  in  the 
garden,  I  was  startled  by  the  rattle 
of  a  rattlesnake  under  one  of  the 
trees  near  where  our  younger  chil- 
dren Schuyler  and  Harry  were  play- 
ing with  a  neighbor's  little  *)oy.  Of 
course  I  was  badly  frightened,  fear- 
ing it  might  strike  one  of  the  chil- 
dren before  I  could  prevent  it.  I 
called  to  them  to  run  to  the  house 
which  they  did  at  once,  while  I 
managed  to  strike  off  the  head  of 
his  snakeship  with  my  hoe.  It  was 
well  I  heard  him  in  time  for  he  was 
getting   ready   for   the  strike,   which 


would  most  likely  have  been  the 
death  of  one  of  the  little  ones,  and 
I  was  very  grateful  to  the  kind 
Providence  which  shielded  them  in 
that  most  imminent  danger. 

The  year  of  187  8  was  made  mem- 
orable in  certain  parts,  of  the  South 
on  account  of  the  ravages  of  that 
terrible  scourge,  the  yellow  fever, 
which  came  near  depopulating  cer- 
tain towns  along  the  Mississippi 
river,  where  it  was  most  severe. 
Memphis,  Natchez,  Port  Gibson  and 
New  Orleans  were  among  the  great- 
est sufferers,  although  in  proportion 
to  the  number  of  inhabitants,  some 
of  the  smaller  towns  and  villages 
were  even  more  sorely  aiflicted, 
some  of  them  were  almost  anninilat- 
ed.  It  was  the  most  frightful  plague 
in  the  history  of  our  country.  30,000 
people  died  in  its  relentless  grip, 
6,000  in  less  than  sixty  days.  Mem- 
phis, it  was  said,  was  reduced  from 
45,000  to  less  than  3,500  by  death 
and  stampede.  The  reports  which 
came  to  us  in  the  North  indicated 
that  the  children  were  dying  by  the 
hundreds.  It  seemed  to  me  that 
something  ought  to  be  done  by  our 
people  in  common  with  other  places 
in  the  state  for  the  relief  of  these 
smitten  ones.  So  at  my  suggestion, 
a  meeting  of  the  citizens  was  held 
at  the  Methodist  church  one  Sunday 
evening.  The  mayor,  Mr.  L.  G. 
Kinne,  was  called  to  the  chair  and 
brief  speeches  were  made  by  prom- 
inent citizens,  setting  forth  the 
pressing  need  of  immediate  help  af- 
ter whicli  a  committee  was  named 
to  have  the  matter  in  charge,  while 
representatives  from  the  different 
churches  and  other  organizations 
were  appointed  to  raise  funds.  In 
this  way  a  goodly  sum  was  collected 
and  sent  to  the  sufferers.     But  what 


136 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


specially  appealed  to  me  was  the 
great  mortality  among  the  children, 
60  after  carefully  thinking  the  mat- 
ter over  I  wrote  as  follows  to  Mr. 
Edward  Russell,  editor  of  the  Da- 
venport Gazette,  who  I  felt  sure 
would  render  all  the  assistance  in 
his  power: 

Toledo,  Iowa,  Aug.  30,  1878. 
Ed.  Russell,  Esq.,  Dear  Sir: — As 
I  have  read  the  reports  from  strick- 
en towns  in  the  South,  from  day  to 
day  in  The  Gazette,  and  so  many 
children  are  among  the  sufferers,  it 
has  occurred  to  me  that  a  collection 
in  all  the  Sabbath  schools  of  the 
state  for  their  benefit  would  be  an 
appropriate  and  fitting  thing  to  be 
done.  Let  the  children  of  Iowa  have 
an  opportunity  to  show  their  sym- 
pathy in  this  substantial  way.  Both 
giver  and  receiver  would  be  benefit- 
ed. I  propose  the  first  Sunday  in 
September  as  the  day.  Should  this 
meet  your  approval,  will  you  please 
call  attention  to  it  through  The 
Gazette,  and  name  some  one  to 
whom  the  collections  may  be  sent  to 
be    forwarded    South. 

Very  respectfully, 

H.  H.  GREEN, 
Pastor  M.  E.  Church. 
The  next  day  I  received  the  fol- 
lowing personal  letter  from  Mr.  Rus- 
sell, approving  the  suggestion  and 
proposing  a  change  from  the  first  to 
the  third  Sunday  in  September  for 
the  collection: 

Davenport,  la.,  Aug.  31,  1878. 
Rev.  H.  H.  Green,  Toledo,  Iowa, 
Dear  Sir  and  Bro.: — Your  welcome 
favor  of  the  30th  received.  The  sug- 
gestion is  most  opportune  and  com- 
mendable. In  the  Gazette  of  Mon- 
day it  shall  be  duly  presented  and 
urged;  modified,  however,  to  read 
the  third  Sunday  in  September.  To- 
morrow is  the  first  Sunday.  Time 
should  be  given  for  notices  in  the 
schools,  which  cannot  be  now  pos- 
sible until  one  week  from  tomorrow. 
Hence,  the  liberty  of  my  alteration 
in    your    suggestion,    which     will,      I 


trust,  meet  your  approval.  Be  sure 
that  the  aid  then  raised  will  be  as 
fully  needed  as  now.  Beyond  doubt 
the  culmination  of  this  fearful 
scourge  in  the  South  has  only  been 
approached,  not  reached.  As  only  a 
sharp  frost  was  ever  known  to  real- 
ly stop  the  ravages  of  yellow  fever, 
we  may  make  up  our  minds  that  six 
weeks  of  woeful  suffering  in  the 
South  are  yet  ahead.  May  God 
move  all  hearts  to  sympathy. 

Yours  truly, 
EDWARD  RUSSELL. 

P.  S.  I  thank  you  heartily  for 
the  suggestion.  Please  consider  The 
Gazette  at  your  command  whenever 
you  have  any  communication  upon 
any  subject  to  offer.     Yours,  E.  R. 

The  next  issue  of  the  Gazette  in 
which  my  letter  was  published,  con- 
tained also  the  approval  of  the  edi- 
tor in  which  he  said: 

"Intended  as  a  private  note  only, 
the  importance  of  the  suggestion 
offered  justifies  the  publication  of 
the  entire  letter,  as  above.  The  ac- 
tion recommended  will,  we  are  sure, 
meet  with  wide  spread  approval. 
The  wisdom  of  an  appeal  to  the 
Sunday  schools  of  the  country  for 
aii  to  the  afflicted  people  of  the 
south  cannot  be  questioned.  It  is 
always  wise  to  afford  opportunity 
to  the  young  to  manifest  practical 
sympathy  for  the  suffering  and  to 
engage  in  works  of  real  benevolence. 
Quite  aside  from  the  resulting  dona- 
tion to  be  obtained  by  the  proposed 
appeal,  the  influence  certain  to  re- 
sult to  the  young  donors  cannot  fail 
to  be  wholly  palutory  and  beneficial. 
Unfortunately,  there  Is  certain  to  be 
demand  for  all  the  aid  that  can  pos- 
sibly be  rendered  to  the  yellow  fever 
sufferers  for  some  weeks  to  come. 
Only  a  frost — yet  certainly  six  weeks 
distant — can  really  stop  the  ravages 
of  the  scourge.  Hence,  the  sugges- 
tion now  made  is  very  timely.  To 
act  upon  it  will  be  to  effectively  sup- 
plement efforts  for  the  sick  and 
bereaved  now  being  exerted.  Let  all 
the  church  pastors  and  every  Sunday 
school  superintendent  and  teacher, 
give    notice    to    their    congregations. 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


L37 


schools  and  classes  on  next  Sunday 
Sept.  8th,  that  on  the  following  Sun- 
day, Sept.  15th,  the  collection  for 
the  victims  of  yellow  fever  in  the 
South,  will  be  taken  up,  with  a  de- 
termined purpose  to  make  its  resul- 
tory  aggregate  as  large  as  possible. 
Such  a  general  appeal  will  be  effec- 
tive  in   securing  a   grand   result. 

For  the  Iowa  schools  we  suggest 
that  all  subscriptions  be  at  once  sent 
to  Ex-Governor  Samuel  Merrill, 
president  of  the  Citizens  National 
Bank,  Des  Moines. 

From  that  central  treasury  the  re- 
mittance to  the  South  will  be,  we 
may  all  be  as  Hired,  promptly  and 
wisely  made. 

In  accordance  with  the  above  sug- 
gestion, on  the  fifteenth  of  Septem- 
ber, the  offering  was  made  in  most 
of  the  schools  of  the  state  and  sent 
to  Ex-Governor  Merrill  at  Des 
Moines,  who  forwarded  it  to  the 
most  needy  places.  In  due  time  I 
received  a  letter  from  New  Orleans 
containing  an  account  of  the  moneys 
received  and  how  they  were  expend- 
ed, also  expressing  the  gratitude  of 
the  recipients.  The  writer  declared 
that  such  acts  of  brotherly  kindness 
and  disinterested  benevolence  would 
do  much  toward  cementing  together 
the  peoples  of  the  two  sections  of 
the  country.  I  regret  the  loss  of 
this  letter  and  my  consequent  in- 
ability to  reproduce  it  here,  as  I 
would  have  been  glad  to  do.  How- 
ever, I  had  been  given  an  opportun- 
ity to  be  revenged  on  Memphis  for 
what  it  had  done  to  me  in  18.59  and 
the   opportunity  had   been   improved. 

The  following  year  was  our  last 
at  Toledo,  because  the  law  of  the 
church  at  that  time  permitted  a  stay 
of  only  three  years  in  succession  at 
one  place.  Early  in  August  the  To- 
ledo Chronicle,  edited  by  INIr.  J.  B. 
Hedge  contained  the  following  kind 
appreciation: 


"Rev.  H.  H.  Green  preaciied  his 
farewell  sermons  last  Sunday  to 
crowded  audiences.  He  has  served 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  church  in 
Toledo  for  the  past  two  and  a  half 
years  in  a  most  satisfactory  manner 
and  his  leaving  is  regretted  by  all. 
The  church  gave  him  a  month's  va- , 
cation  and  a  ticket  to  the  moun- 
tains and  return  for  himself  and 
wife.  They  started  Wednesday  morn- 
ing on  their  trip  west  and  will  prob- 
ably take  in  Denver,  Colorado 
Springs,  Greeley,  the  Garden  of  the 
Gods,  etc.,  etc.,  before  they  return. 
The  best  wishes  of  the  people  of 
Tole-lo  will  go  with  Mr.  and  :\Irs. 
Green  wherever  their  future  lot  mav 
be." 

Several  letters  were  written  for 
publication  during  that  trip  but  as 
so  much  has  been  said  of  the  Colo- 
rado country  in  recent  years,  I  will 
reproduce  but  one  of  my  own,  which, 
as  it  was  written  over  thirty  years 
ago,  and  consequently  has  to  do  with 
things  as  they  r-ppeared  at  that  time 
to  one  during  a  hasty  passage 
through  the  country,  may  not  be  en- 
tirely void  of  interest  even  at  the 
present  time: 
Pueblo,    Colo.,    Aug.     30th,     1879. 

The  A.  T.  &  S.  F.  traverses- two 
distinct  sections  and  unites  two  dis- 
tinct interests,  that  is  to  say:  the 
agricultural  interests  of  southeast- 
ern Kansas  and  the  stockraising  in- 
terests of  southwestern  Kansas,  and 
southeastern  Colorado  with  the  min- 
ing interests  cf  the  mountain  region. 
It  requires  but  a  short  time  to 
"round  up"  stock  which  may  be  seen 
from  the  car  window  in  herds  of 
thousands  on  these  vast  plains,  feed- 
ing and  fattening  on  the  rich  juicy 
grasses,  which  does  away  utterly 
with  all  need  of  corn,  and  finding 
plenty  of  good  water  in  the  great 
Arkansas  which  for  ovei:  400  miles 
runs  parallel  with  the  railroad.'  The-e 
res-ions  miitually  dependent,  one  for 
its  markets  the  other  for  its  sup- 
nlies,  are  .ioined  together  by  the  iron 
bonds  of  this  great  thoroughfare  of 


138 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


the  west.  Of  course  a  trip  over  this 
popular  road  is  full  of  interest  to 
the  traveler. 

Arriving  at  Atchison  via  the  C.  R. 
I.  &  P.  at  1:28  a.  m.  you  step  from 
the  cars  just  across  the  track  and 
on  to  the  A.  T.  &  S.-  F.  and  after 
about  twenty  minutes  the  brakeman 
cries  out,  "All  aboard,"  the  whistle 
blows  and  you  are  off  for  Topeka, 
reaching  here  at  12:40  p.  m.  you 
take  dinner  and  then  on  again  for 
the  west. 

Topeka  is  a  fine  young  city  with  a 
population  of  15,000,  the  capital  of 
the  state,  containing  many  fine 
buildings,  among  which  is  the  state 
house,  public  school,  colleges  and 
machine  shops  of  the  A.  T.  &  S.  F. 
R.  R.  covering  four  acres  of  ground, 
important  as  a  railway  center.  Tne 
home  of  Gov.  St.  John,  a  kind  heart- 
ed, philanthropic  gentleman,  highly 
esteemed  by  his  fellow  citizens,  and 
who  is  winning  golden  praise  from 
all  good  people  as  well  as  the  grati- 
tude of  the  colored  refugees  who  are 
pouring  into  this  state  by  thousands, 
as  they  flee  away  from  the  cruel  op- 
pression of  the  ex-slave  driver,  and 
find  here  a  home  and  a  field  of  use- 
fulness. 

Pushing  southward  and  westward 
from  Topeka,  at  something  over 
twenty  miles  an  hour  you  "see  the 
country."  The  question  of  fences 
will  never  trouble  the  Kansasan. 
This  problem  is  easily  solved  by  the 
regular  thrifty  hedges  which  you 
see  all  along  the  line.  I  have  never 
seen  such  handsome  and  effective 
hedg'es,  either  in  this  country  or  in 
Europe,  and  this,  as  every  farmer 
knows  is  a  consideration  of  great 
importance.  Another  thing  you  can- 
not fail  to  notice,  and  that  is  the 
hundreds  of  "prairie  schooners" 
moving  in  all  directions,  seeking 
homes  on  these  broad  prairies.  How 
long  will  it  be  before  this  "Great 
American  Desert"  will  blossom  like 
a  rose.  Bright  new  towns,  built  up 
by  sturdy,  thrifty,  enterprising  set- 
tlers, greet  you  every  ten  or  fifteen 
miles  along  the  whole  length  of  the 
railroad,  some  of  which  are  begin- 
ning to  assume  metropolitan  airs; 
what   with   their    daily   papers,    lamp 


lit  streets,  their  lines  of  busses  to 
and    from    the    principal    hotels,    etc. 

Occasionally  you  see  a  "dug-out" 
of  which  so  much  has  been  said, 
but  like  the  traditional  log  cabin, 
the  dug  out  in  this  section  at  least, 
is  fast  giving  place  to  the  more  pre- 
tentious houses  of  brick  and  stone, 
which  are  springing  up  as  if  by 
magic  on  every  hand.  Passing  on 
toward  the  Colorado  line,  along  the 
banks  of  the  Arkansas,  you  are  sur- 
prised to  see  great  heaps  of  sun- 
bleached  bones  of  buffalo  and  ante- 
lope gathered  along  the  track  to  be 
shipped  east  for  fertilizing  and  other 
purposes.  Herds  of  antelopes  may 
be  seen  in  the  distance,  grazing 
quietly  as  you  pass  along,  and  vil- 
lage after  village  of  prairie  dogs, 
saucily  barking  at  you  from  the  tops 
of  their  houses,  queer  little  squirrel- 
like looking  animals  full  of  life  and 
fun.  Buffalo  trails  leading  from  the 
river  not  more  than  twelve  inches 
wide,  excite  surprise  in  one  not  ac- 
quainted with  the  habits  of  this 
monarch  of  the  prairie.  Like  his 
untutored  master,  he  carefully  puts 
one  foot  down  before  the  other  and 
walks  in  single  file,  and  hence  these 
narrow  trails;  but  buffalo  are  not 
numerous  now,  we  did  not  catch  a 
glimpse  of  one  in  all  our  long  ride. 

An  incident  on  the  train  after  we 
were  well  out  in  Colorado,  though 
not  uncommon,  is  worthy  of  men- 
tion. An  old  gentleman  fell  into 
the  hands  of  "three  card  monte" 
men,  and  was  mulcted  to  the  tune 
of  forty-five  dollars.  He  made  a  fuss 
about  it,  and  the  passengers,  whose 
sympathies  were  arousea,  interfered, 
and  the  gamblers  were  persuaded  to 
return  to  his  wife  all  but  ten  dol- 
lars, which  it  was  agreed  was  a  fair 
price  for  the  "experience."  Strange 
is  it  not,  that  with  so  many  warn- 
ings in  the  papers,  people  will  still 
insist  on  being  such  consummate 
fools. 

And  now  yonder  to  the  west,  sev- 
enty-five miles  away  we  catch  our 
first  sight  of  the  mountains.  Like 
a  dark  blue  cloud  they  rise  up  in 
majesty  before  us;  to  the  south  is 
Spanish  Peak,  to  the  west  Green- 
horn,  Hard   Scrabble  Canon,   leading 


THE   SIMPLE   LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


139 


off,  I  am  told  to  Rosita,  Lost  Dos 
and  Pikes  Peak  rising  up  away  to 
the  nortliwest.  "No  other  state  or 
territory  presents  such  an  embattled 
hcst  of  lofty  mountain  peaks.  Her 
canons  or  mountain  passes,  like  deep 
furrows  ploughed  to  depths  of  two 
thousand  feet  and  more,  rank  all 
others  on  the  continent.  Her  glassy 
lakes  of  crystal  waters  borne  upward 
8,000  to  11,000  feet,  meet  and  kiss 
the  very  skies,  waking  the  jealousy 
of  all  the  sister  lakes  of  the  terri- 
tories and  other  states."  But  hark, 
the  whistle  blows  and  the  brakeman 
cries  Pueblo,  and  we  pull  up  at  the 
western  terminus  of  the  main  line 
of  this  magnificent  railroad  at  2:30 
p.  m.  Pueblo  is  a  place  of  history; 
formerly  a  trading  post  of  Gen.  Fre- 
mont's on  the  old  St.  Louis  and 
Sante  Fe  route,  but  now  a  city  of 
6,000  inhabitants,  full  of  life  and 
vim,  the  railroad  center  of  the 
mountains.  Has  two  riaily  papers, 
fine  water  works,  good  hotels  and 
everything  that  goes  to  make  up  a 
thriving  town.  Here  is  the  depot 
of  supplies  for  the  mines,  the  assay 
office  and  unfortunately  gambling 
hells  in  profusion.  Here  you  take 
trains  for  all  points  of  interest  in 
this  young  and  vigorous  state:  Colo- 
rado Springs,  Manitou,  the  "Garden 
of  the  Gods,"  mountains,  mines  and 
pleasant  resorts.  Stage  lines  going 
where  railroads  have  not  yet  been 
built;  every  facility  is  offered  for 
the  comfort,  convenience  and  pleas- 
ure of  the  traveler. 

Upon  returning  from  our  trip  to 
the  mountains,  which  we  greatly  en- 
joyed, preparations  were  made  for 
our  departure  from  what  had  been 
one  of  the  most  delightful  charges, 
to  our  new  field  of  labor. 

At  the  Conference  which  was  held 
at  Davenport  that  fall  under  the 
pr'esidency  of  Bishop  W.  L.  Harris, 
I  was  appointed  to  Nashua,  where 
we  remained  one  year,  making  some 
very  pleasant  acquaintances,  among 
whom  was  Dr.  Troy  and  family.  Sen- 
ator   W.    B.    Perrin    and    that    kind 


htarted,  genial  newspaper  man,  Mr. 
J.  VV.  Grawe,  editor  of  the  Post,  for 
whom  I  have  always  entertained  the 
warmest  friendship. 

For  several  weeks  during  the  win- 
ter of  1879-80,  the  town  of  Nashua 
was  sorely  afflicted  with  a  dreaded 
scourge,  diphtheria.  The  knowledge 
of  medical  science  was  not  as  far 
advanced  at  that  time  as  it  is  now, 
and  the  physicians  were  for  a  long 
time  unable  to  arrest  the  progress 
of  the  disease,  which,  in  spite  of 
their  best  efforts  carried  off  large 
numbers  of  children.  In  some  fam- 
ilies all  the  younger  children  died, 
and  in  others,  where  life  was  saved, 
the  poor  liLcle  things  were  smitten 
with  blindness,  or  were  crippled  for 
life  in  one  way  or  another.  In  one 
family  where  I  had  been  called  to 
bury  a  child,  another  had  died  be- 
fore we  returned  from  the  cemetery 
From  another  home  we  carried  away 
two  at  one  time  and  the  next  day 
the  third,  the  only  one  left  died;  and 
so  it  went  on,  day  after  day,  until 
nearly  every  house  in  the  town 
which  had  been  happy  in  the  posses- 
sion of  little  people,  became  a  house 
of  mourning. 

Of  course  no  extended  religious 
services  were  held  in  any  case;  we 
hastened  the  dead  to  the  cemetery 
as  rapidly  as  we  could,  for  the  dis- 
ease was  contagious,  and  parents 
were  very  anxious.  We  had  our 
own  little  ones  to  think  of  and  some 
of  our  friends  thought  I  was  doing 
wrong  to  expose  them  as  I  seemed 
to  be  doing,  but  both  mother  and  I 
felt  it  to  be  our  duty  to  bury  the 
dead,  whether  they  belonged  to 
families  in  our  church  or  not, 
trusting  in  God  and  suffering  noth- 
ing. My  good  friend  Dr.  Troy  gave 
us    directions    about    sanitary    meas- 


140 


THE   SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


ures,  which  we  tried  to  follow  to 
the  letter.  I  wore  a  long  overcoat 
whenever  I  was  called  to  the  house 
of  a  stricken  family,  and  upon  re- 
turning home,  threw  it  upon  the 
clothes  line  outside.  The  doctor 
kept  the  house  thoroughly  disinfect- 
ed and  we  passed  through  the  ordeal 
without  harm.  None  of  our  children 
caught  the  infection  and  for  this  we 
were  profoundly  and  humbly  grate- 
ful. 

Before  we  left  Nashua  our  fourth 
son  Robert  was  born,  a  dear  little 
fellow,  whose  years  on  earth  were 
few,    but    very    fragrant    of    love. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 
The  conference  in  the  fall  of  ISSvl 
was  held  at  Osage  under  the  presi- 
dency of  Bishop  Andrews,  whom  I 
had  learned  to  esteem  very  highly  for 
his  many  excellent  qualities  of  mind 
and  heart.  Bishop  Andrews  had 
spent  a  Sunday  in  our  family  at 
Wyoming,  preaching  for  me  both 
morning  and  evening.  He  had  also 
been  with  us  one  Sunday  at  Toledo, 
preaching  for  me  on  Children's  Day, 
and  had  endeared  himself  to  us  all. 
I  was  greatly  pleased,  therefore, 
when  I  learned  that  he  was  to  pre- 
side at  the  Conference  that  fall.  It 
was  at  Osage  I  preached  my  first 
sermon  before  the  Conference.  I 
had  been  appointed  to  preach  the 
annual  missionary  sermon  at  Cedar 
Rapids,  but  a  felon  on  my  thumb 
had  put  me  out  of  business  at  that 
Conference,  so  the  Rev.  Dr.  Charles 
\Ventworth,  a  missionary  who  had 
served  several  years  in  China  had 
taken  my  place  on  the  program, 
which  was  a  happy  thing  for  all  con- 
cerned, for  he  preached  a  magnifi- 
cent sermon,  which  delighted  the 
preachers  and  no  doubt  accomplished 


laiuch  good  for  the  cause.  I  had 
for  my  subject  at  Osage,  "Christ,  the 
Light  of  the  World."  I  was  by  no 
means  satisfied  with  my  effort,  and 
I  am  inclined  to  think  I  had  plenty 
of  company  in  my  estimate  of  the 
sermon. 

It  is  a  well  known  fact  that  there 
is  no  jollier  class  of  men  in  the 
world,  than  a  Conference  of  Metho- 
dist preachers,  for  while  they  have 
a  great  many  problems  on  their 
minds,  serious  enough  to  sober  the 
most  frolicsome  among  them,  the 
annual  reunion  at  Conference  is  a 
time  of  real  joyous  hilarity,  often 
mingled  with  deep  religious  fervor, 
which  is  very  helpful  m  providing  a 
new  equipment  for  the  unKnown  ex- 
periences of  a  new  year  of  toil  and 
care,  and  often  of  pain  as  well  as 
triumph.  So  there  is  little  wonder 
and  no  cause  for  regret  that  occa- 
sionally a  few  harmless  pranks  are 
indulged  in  and  once  in  a  while  a 
practical  joke  is  perpetrated  upon 
some  brother  who  is  known  to  be  par- 
ticularly susceptible  to  such  things.  At 
one  of  our  conference?  a  good  broth- 
er who  had  for  some  time  been  an 
enchanted  listener  to  the  Presiding 
Elder  bee  which  had  been  loudly  and 
pereistently  buzzing  in  his  bonnet, 
was  considered  by  some  of  the  wags 
as  legitimate  prey  and  inasmuch  as 
he  was  thought  to  be  an  easy  mark, 
three  or  four  of  those  blithesome 
humorists  got  together  and  upon  sev- 
eral sheets  of  foolscap  paper  made 
out  a  list  of  appointments  for  the 
coming  year.  The  list  contained  some 
very  remarkable  adjustments  but  no 
matter  for  that,  the  chief  thing  about 
it  was  that  the  name  of  the  brother 
who  had  been  selected  as  the  victim 
was  set  opposite  one  of  the  principal 
districts  as  its  Presiding  Elder.    Then 


THE   SIMPLE   LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


141 


the  list  was  carefully  rolled  up  and 
a  rubber  band  placed  around  it.  It 
was  given  in  charge  of  the  chief  con- 
spirator who  shrewdly  dropped  it 
near  the  house  where  the  bishop  was 
being  entertained  and  where  he  knew 
the  victim  would  find  it.  It  all  hap- 
pened as  planned.  The  vvouid-be 
Presiding  Elder  soon  approached  the 
place  where  the  document  had  been 
dropped  and  espying  it  where  it  lay, 
he  eagerly  pounced  upon  it  and  then 
seeing  his  own  name  at  the  head  cf 
a  district  he  hastened  away  with  it 
to  the  bishop  to  whom  he  presented 
it  with  the  remark,  "I  think.  Bishop, 
you  have  dropped  something  here 
which  is  of  great  importance.  I 
found  it  on  the  sidewalk,  near  the 
house."  The  bishop  took  the  papers, 
and  glancing  over  them,  saw  at  cnce 
that  the  brother  had  been  made  the 
unconscious  subject  of  a  practical 
joke,  whereupon,  with  one  of  his 
kindly  smiles  he  handed  them  back, 
saying  as  he  did  so,  "No,  my  brother, 
I  never  saw  these  papers  before; 
there  must  be  some  mistake."  It 
was  really  an  inexcusable  jest,  but 
no  harm  was  intended  and  doubtless 
in   the   long   run   it   bore   good   fruit. 

Just  before  Conference  I  had  re- 
quested my  Presiding  Elder  to  ar- 
range for  our  removal  to  a  new 
field  of  labor  for  the  ensuing  year. 
This  was  because  I  was  far  from  be- 
ing satisfied  with  the  results  of  the 
year  at  Nashua,  and  also  because  the 
family,  for  other  reasons,  desired  a 
change.  My  Presiding  Elder  said  he 
could  do  no  better  than  to  send  me 
to  Janesville,  a  small  village  down 
the  road.  "Very  well,"  I  said,"  let 
it   be   Janesville." 

We  were  not  long  in  getting  moved 
and  from  the  first  we  were  made  to 
feel    that     we     "had     fallen    .among 


friends.  Our  congregations  were  al- 
ways good,  and  each  year  witnessed 
the  addition  of  considerable  numbers 
to  the  church.  While  the  town  was 
quite  small,  the  population  was  much 
above  the  average  of  country  places 
in  intelligence,  indeed  it  would  be 
difficult  to  find  a  community  any- 
where that  could  make  a  finer  snow- 
ing of  bright  young  people  than  the 
village  of  Janesville  and  the  sur- 
rounding  country  at  that   time. 

Among  the  young  people  were 
many  who  had  fitted  themselves  for 
teachers.  The  normal  school  at 
Cedar  Falls  furnished  a  fine  oppor- 
tunity for  any  who  cared  to  improve 
it.  There  were  also  several  good 
musicians  in  the  village,  notably  the 
Wyant  family,  who  had  charge  of  the 
music  in  the  church.  Carl,  Mabel 
and  Wylie  Wyant  were  all  superior 
singers.  Mabel  was  also  a  fine  organ- 
ist, while  both  Carl  and  Wylie  were 
succe:sful  composers  of  music.  As 
an  instance  of  the  ability  of  our  peo- 
ple in  this  direction,  the  choir,  under 
the  direction  of  Carl  Wyant,  assisted 
by  other  young  people  of  the  com- 
munity, rendered  Mozart's  "Twelfth 
Mass"  with  such  success  as  to  win 
high  praise  from  musical  people  who 
were  present  from  Waterloo,  Cedar 
Falls  and  Waverly.  It  occurred  to 
me  that  with  the  large  amount  of 
talent  the  village  afforded  something 
ought  to  be  done  to  utilize  it  for 
the  good  of  the  young  people.  After 
talking  the  matter  over  with  them, 
an  association  was  formed  which  we 
named  the  "Janesville  Literary  So- 
ciety." We  held  weekly  meetings 
for  the  study  of  history  and  kindred 
topics,  which  we  interspersed  with 
music.  Every  alternate  week,  how- 
ever, the  evening  was  given  over  to 
a  session  of  congress,  and  as  I  had 
been  chosen  president  cf  the  society, 


142 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


it  became  my  duty  to  fill  the  role  of 
Speaker  of  the  House,  a  most  diffi- 
cult and  trying  position.  Of  course 
the  members  represented  the  differ- 
ent states,  some  of  which  were  re- 
publican, others  democratic,  also  two 
cr  three  greenbackers.  Bills  were 
introduced,  discussed  and  disposed 
of  as  is  done  in  congress.  ^Nluch 
enthusiasm  was  shown  on  different 
occasions  when  the  importance  of  the 
measure  and  the  familiarity  of  the 
members  with  its  provisions  would 
interest  them.  Occasionally  the  mem- 
bers would  become  so  deeply  inter- 
ested, that  when  the  hour  for  ad- 
journment was  reached,  I  could  with 
difficulty  prevail  upon  them  to 
"quit."  We  all  found  those  sessions 
of  congress  to  be  wonderfully  allur- 
ing, especially  to  the  young  men.  I 
think  much  good  came  of  them  as 
also  of  the  other  exercises  in  one  way 
or  another.  It  must  be  remembered 
that  this  was  prior  to  the  institution 
of  the  Epworth  League  or  any  of 
the  young  peoples'  societies  in  the 
church.  Even  now,  I  am  not  sure 
that  something  of  that  kind  would 
not  be  of  value  in  addition  to  the 
strictly  religious  exercises  of  the 
Epworth  League. 

At  the  Osage  Conference  I  had 
been  appointed  one  of  the  Triers  of 
Appeals  for  the  western  states  and 
in  December  was  called  to  Freeport, 
Illinois,  where  the  court  was  held. 
I  had  been  there  but  a  few  days  when 
a  telegram  came,  calling  me  to  the 
bedside  of  my  wife  who  was  very  ill. 
Reaching  home  I  found  her  delerious 
with  erysipilas,  and  in  a  serious  con- 
dition. For  four  weeks  she  was  con- 
fined to  her  bed,  ten  days  of  the 
time  unconscious,  and  for  several 
days  hovering  between  life  and 
death.  It  was  a  close  call,  only  the 
skill    of   Dr.    Bradford    and    the   con- 


stant attentions  of  our  friends  who 
watched  by  her  bedside  day  and 
night,  enabled  her  to  pull  through  it 
without  leaving  any  serious  conse- 
quences. 

The  following  year  our  two  young- 
er children,  Harry  and  Robert  were 
taken  down  with  that  dreaded 
scourge,  scarlet  fever.  They  both 
recovered,  but  it  was  only  after  a 
long  and  tedious  illness,  and  not 
without  bearing  the  marks  of  the 
fever,  from  which  neither  of  them 
ever  entirely  recovered. 

It  was  during  the  second  year  at 
Janesville  that  our  youngest  child, 
Marion,  was  born,  March  8th,   1882. 

Among  the  members  of  the  church 
whom  we  learned  to  esteem  very 
highly  was  Mrs.  Col.  Dougherty,  a 
lady  who  became  a  warm  friend  of 
the  family.  Our  near  association  was 
severed  by  the  removal  of  Mrs. 
Dougherty  from  Janesville  to  a  dis- 
tant town  but  before  her  departure 
she  made  me  a  present  of  a  silk 
sash,  which  she"  desired  me  to  keep 
as  a  remembrance.  The  sash  is  re- 
ferred to  in  the  following  item  taken 
from  the  Decorah  Republican: 

The  unveiling  of  a  statute  at 
Washington  last  Wednesday,  of  a 
monument  to  the  memory  of  Gen. 
James  Shields,  brings  out  an  inter- 
esting local  fact.  Rev.  H.  H.  Green 
has  in  his  possession  a  silk  military 
officer's  scarf,  which  Gen.  Shields 
wore  in  the  Mexican  war.  It's  his- 
tory is  this:  After  going  through 
that  war,  it  lay  in  disuse  until  the 
War  of  the  Rebellion  broke  out, 
when  it  was  presented  by  Gen.  S.  to 
Col.  Dougherty  of  the  22nd  Illinois 
Volunteer  Infantry,  and  was  worn 
by  that  offi'cer  at  the  battle  of  Bel- 
mont. Col.  D.  was  wounded  in  that 
battle,  and  spots,  darker  than  the 
rest  of  the  sash,  are  to  be  seen  upon 
it  tv>at  are  believed  to  be  the  blood 
of  the  dead  officer,  caught  by  the 
sash  at  that  time.     It  was  presented 


THE  SIMPLE   LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


143 


to  ]\Ir.  Green  some  fifteen  years  ago 
when  he  was  pastor  at  Janesville, 
Bremer  county,  Iowa,  by  the  widow 
of  Col.  D.,  who  gave  him  the  fore- 
going history.  Gen.  Shields  is  a  his- 
toric character  in  many  respects.  Be- 
sides serving  ably  in  two  wars,  he 
was  an  orator  and  a  statesman.  He 
is  the  only  person  in  American  his- 
tory who  served  as  a  senator  from 
three  different  states.  His  longest 
service  was  for  Illinois,  but  he  sub- 
sequently was  sent  to  that  body,  for 
short  terms  by  Minnesota  and  ]\Iis- 
souri,  and  it  is  probable  that  had  he 
lived  longer  California  would  have 
honored  him  in  a  similar  manner. 

For  several  years  prior  to  187  8 
there  had  been  growing  within  the 
state  of  Iowa,  a  sentiment  demand- 
ing the  entire  suppression  of  the 
liquor  traffic,  and  in  response  to  this 
demand  the  Eighteenth  and  Nine- 
teenth General  Assemblies  had  voted 
to  submit  to  the  people  an  amend- 
ment to  the  constitution,  forbidding 
the  manufacture  and  sale  of  intoxi- 
cating liquors,  to  be  used  as  a  bev- 
erage, within  the  bounds  of  the 
state;  and  on  the  27th  of  June,  1882 
at  a  non-partisan  election,  the  propo- 
sition was  carried  by  a  majority  of 
29.759.  But  on  a  technicality  said 
to  have  arisen  from  an  error  by  an 
engrossing  clerk,  the  supreme  court 
declared  the  question  had  not  been 
legally  submitted  by  the  legislature, 
and  so  the  will  of  the  people  was  de- 
feated. 

It  was  then  proposed  to  make  it  a 
matter  of  statutory  legislative  enact- 
ment, and  at  the  regular  election  in 
the  fall  of  1883  the  liquor  question 
was  uppermost  in  the  choice  of  mem- 
bers for  the  approaching  session  of 
the  legislature. 

The  county  of  Bremer,  where  there 
was  a  considerable  foreign  element, 
had  given  a  majority  against  the 
nmendment,  and  was  opposed  to  any 
action  curtailing  the  liquor  interests. 


The  Republicans  were  generally 
favorable  to  tue  amendment,  while 
the  Democrats  were  as  generally  op- 
posed to  it,  and  as  far  as  they  were 
able  made  it  a  parti  an  measure,  so 
Bremer  county  became  strongly 
fien:oc"  atic.  It  was  generally  believ- 
ed that  a  Republican  would  have  lit- 
tle chance  of  election  in  that  county, 
especially  one  with  pronounced  tem- 
perance  proclivities. 

It  was  under  these  conditions  that 
my  name  was  proposed  as  a  candi- 
date for  Representative.  I  was  great- 
ly surprised  when  the  matter  was 
first  broached  by  some  of  my  Janes- 
ville friends,  and  I  could  hardly  take 
it  seriously.  That  a  preacher,  and 
especially  a  Methodist  preacher,  who 
had  been  a  resident  of  the  county 
but  a  short  time  could  be  elected  in 
a  democratic,  anti-amendment  dis- 
trict was  positively  absurd,  so  it 
seemed  to  me,  and  in  fact  to  a  good 
many  others  also,  but  there  were  a 
few  people  who  thought  differently, 
and  they  insisted  on  my  becoming  a 
candidate.  At  the  primaries  to  my 
surprise  I  received  the  nomination 
and  became  the  candidate  of  the  Re- 
publican party. 

The  Waverly  Republican  in  its  ac- 
count of  the  convention  said: 

The  delegates  to  the  Republican 
County  Convention  met  at  the  court 
house  yesterday  morning  and  nom- 
inated a  ticket  that  we  trust,  after 
the  disappointments  and  vexations 
incident  to  the  necessary  defeat  of 
some  of  the  aspirants,  will  be  admit- 
ted to  be  satisfactory  to  all  parts  of 
the  county.  The  convention  was  com- 
posed of  men  who  generally  seemed 
to  be  filled  with  the  desire  to  serve 
the  best  intere-ts  of  the  party.  The 
result  at  the  Primaries  proved  that 
Capt.  H.  H.  Green  was  the  strongest 
candidate  for  Representative  and 
that  gentleman  was  therefore  given 
the  nomination.  Capt.  Green  has  not 
a  general  personal  acquaiutance  with 


144 


THE   SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


many  of  the  delegates,  but  after  his 
happy  little  speech  in  accepting  the 
nomination  his  remarks  were  ap- 
plauded as  though  the  gentlemen  of 
the  convention  recognized  the  fact 
that  their  candidate  had  struck  the 
key-note  of  the  campaign. 

Per  contra,  the  Democrat  had  this 
to  say: 

"The  issue  in  this  campaign  is  now 
fully  made  up,  each  party  has  put  in 
nomination,  candidates  who  stand 
squarely  on  their  platform.  The 
Democrats  nominating  for  the  Legis- 
lature a  gentleman  whose  interests 
are  identified  with  the  people  of  the 
county,  who  has  resided  in  the  coun- 
ty for  many  years,  is  known  of  all. 
The  Prohibitionists  have  nominated 
a  gentleman  who  perhaps  has  been 
succe  sful  in  his  calling,  that  of 
preaching  the  Methodist  doctrine.  He 
is  a  comparative  stranger  to  the  peo- 
ple, except  his  congregation.  He  came 
here  by  the  appointment  of  his 
church,  has  not  invested  in  anything 
permanent  in  the  county,  has  no  ties 
to  hold  him  here,  has  contributed 
nothing  to  the  material  wealth  of 
the  county  and  is  in  the  position  to 
say,  give  me  an  office  and  I  will  stay, 
if  not,  I  will  go  somewhere  else,  if 
my  church  so  orders.  Which  will 
you  have  to  represent  you,  gentle- 
men,  in   the   next   Legislature? 

And  so  the  campaign  opened.  Hap- 
pily for  me  there  were  also  two  in- 
dependent candidates,  both  of  them 
old  residents  of  the  county,  and  also 
old  campaigners.  To  this  tact  I 
owed  my  election.  It  would  have 
been  impossible  to  have  succeeded 
had  there  been  only  one  candidate 
against  me.  My  friends  did  every- 
thing in  their  power  to  encourage 
those  two  independent  gentlemen  to 
"also  run,"  and  the  result  of  the 
election  proved  the  wisdom  of  their 
action.  Moreover,  I  was  told  that 
the  regular .  nominee  of  the  Demo- 
crats, who  was  by  no  means  an  advo- 
cate of  the  saloon,  preferred  me  to 
either    of    the    other    gentlemen,    so 


that  all  in  all  it  was  probably  one  of 
the  most  complicated  situations  of 
that  campaign,  and  I  believe  was  so 
regarded  in  the  state.  I  was  fortun- 
ate in  my  friends,  to  whose  efforts 
I  was  indebted  for  my  election,  and 
to  no  one  more  so  than  to  Mr.  Ed- 
ward Knott  of  Waverly,  who  ren- 
dered the  Republican  party  great  ser- 
vice that  fall.  When  the  votes  were 
counted  it  appeared  that  I  had  re- 
ceived a  plurality  of  nearly  300  over 
my  opponents,  which  was  very  grati- 
fying to  the  Republicans  of  the 
county. 

Among  the  many  references  to 
that  contest,  I  select  one  which  may 
be  taken  as  a  sample  of  all.  I  do 
this  because  there  are  not  a  few 
well  meaning  people  who  nold  that 
ministers  should  take  no  public  part 
in  the  affairs  of  the  state  or  nation, 
at  least  in  any  partisan  sense: 

"Today  is  Sunday,  and  as  the  elec- 
tion is  now  over  it  is  to  be  hoped 
the  preachers  will  come  back  from 
politics  to  resume  the  preaching  of 
the   gospel." — Dubuque   Herald. 

We  know  of  one  who  will  until 
the  meeting  of  the  Legislature  in 
.lanuary,  when  he  will  take  his  seat 
in  that  body  as  "the  member  from 
Bremer,"  and  vindicate  his  right, 
and  the  right  of  preachers  in  general, 
to  exercise  all  the  privileges  of  an 
American  citizen.  The  Reverend  gen- 
tleman from  Bremer  will  also  be 
found  to  be  a  good  speaker  and  de- 
bator,  and  if  he  is  not  endowed  with 
as  much  good,  practical  common 
sense  as  any  member  there  we  miss 
our  gue  s.  The  fact  that  the  demo- 
cratic party  regarded  preachers  as 
having  no  political  rights  that  the 
people  are  bound  to  respect,  has  hurt 
that  party,  and  will  continue  to  hurt 
it  PS  long  as  it  harbors  such  sense- 
less bigotry.  Will  the  Herald  please 
n^ake  a  note  cf  the  fact  that  Rev. 
H.  H.  Green,  a  Methodist  preacher, 
will  represent  Bremer  in  the  next 
Legislature. — Dubuque  Times. 


THE   SIMPLE   LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


Ui 


Having  been  pastor  ait  Janesville 
three  years,  I  was  obliged  under  the 
laws  of  the  church,  to  move  to  a  new 
field. 

At  the  next  Conference  I  was 
given  Plainfield,  a  small  charge  in 
the  same  county,  so  that  I  might 
remain  in  the  district  which  had 
elected  me  to  the  Legislature.  As 
it  was  necessary  for  me  to  De  away 
from  my  charge  during  the  winter,  I 
engaged  the  services  of  the  pastors 
at  Waverly  and  Nashua  to  fill  my 
appointments  at  the  Plainfield  and 
Warren  churches,  the  two  preaching 
places,  while  I  was  gone. 

Arriving  at  Des  Moines  a  few  days 
before  the  opening  of  the  session,  I 
found  the  House  nearly  equally  di- 
vided politically,  it  consisted  of  fifty- 
one  Republicans  and  forty-nine 
Democrats,  which  gave  the  Republi- 
cans control  by  a  margin  too  close 
for  comfort  in  view  of  the  great 
moral  interests  at  stake.  The  record 
of  the  opening  session,  which  was 
held  in  the  old  state  house  was  this: 
"Hall  of  House  of  Representatives, 
Des   Moines,    Iowa,   Jan.    14,    1884. 

Pursuant  to  law  the  House  of 
Representatives  of  the  Twentieth 
General  Assembly  met  at  2  o'clock 
p.  m.,  and  were  called  to  order  by 
Mr.  Tuttle  of  Polk  county.  Prayer 
by  Hon.  H.  H.  Green  of  Bremer.  On 
motion  of  Mr.  Clayton  of  Pottawat- 
tamie county,  E.  E.  Haynes  of  Ap- 
panoose county  was  appointed  Chief 
Clerk,  pro  tem." 

At  the  next  session  Judge  Wolfe 
of  Cedar  county  was  elected  Speaker, 
and  all  the  other  officers,  including 
Sidney  A.  Foster,  Chief  Clerk,  were 
chosen. 

I  was  greatly  pleased  to  find 
among  the  members  of  the  House  a 
few    old    friends    and    acquaintances. 


among  whom  were  General  Tuttle, 
formerly  Colonel  of  the  Second  Iowa; 
Ex-Governor  C.  C.  Carpenter,  who 
was  a  member  of  General  Dodge's 
staff  during  the  war;  Dr.  M.  H.  Cal- 
kins of  Wyoming  and  N.  A.  Merrill 
of   De    Witt. 

The  new  capital  building  had  been 
completed  so  far  as  to  be  ready  for 
occupancy  by  the  Twentieth  General 
Assembly  and  arrangements  for  re- 
moval from  the  old  building  to  the 
new  were  accordingly  made  as  socn 
as  the  Senate  and  House  had  been 
organized.  The  new  capital  was 
dedicated  with  appropriate  cere- 
monies on  January  17th,  at  which 
time  the  Governor  elect,  Buren  R. 
Sherman,  and  the  new  Lieutenant- 
Governor  O.  H.  Manning,  the  man 
who  gave  to  the  state  the  famous 
epigram,  "A  school  house  on  every 
hilltop  and  no  saloon  in  the  valley," 
were  inaugurated.  The  exercises  were 
held  in  the  rotunda  of  the  new  capi- 
tal, in  the  presence  of  a  throng 
which  crowded  it  to  its  utmost  capac- 
ity. Prayer  was  offered  by  Bishop 
J.  F.  Hursit  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal church,  who  was  at  that  time  a 
resident  of  Des  Moines.  The  dedi- 
cation address  was  delivered  by  the 
Hon.  John  A.  Kasson,  one  of  the 
most  eloquent  statesmen  of  the 
country,  and  the  inaugural  address 
by  the  governor  elect.  In  the  even- 
ing the  new  capital  was  lighted  and 
a  public  reception  was  given  to  the 
Governor,  Lieutenant-Governor  and 
Speaker  of  the   House. 

The  next  day  we  assembled  for 
the  last  time  in  the  old  State  House 
and  from  there  marched  in  a  body 
with  the  Senate  to  the  new  capital, 
where  each  body  took  possession  of 
its  chamber.  At  the  drawing  of 
seats  which  immediately  took  place, 


14() 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


I  was  fortunate  in  obtaining  seat 
number  4,  directly  in  front  of  the 
Speaker's  desk.  It  was  a  very  good 
location  and  I  was  very  well  pleased 
with    it. 

The  members  soon  began  to  get 
busy,  and  it  was  not  long  before 
we  were  flooded  with  billiS,  resolu- 
tions, petitions,  etc.,  as  is  always  the 
case.  The  Third  House  as  the  lobby 
is  called,  came  in  force,  and  the 
machine  was  soon  grinding  out  its 
grist. 

In  the  assignment  of  committees  I 
was  given  the  chairmanship  of  the 
Soldiers'  Home,  was  second  on  the 
committee  for  the  suppression  of  in- 
temperance, and  was  also  placed  on 
the  judiciary,  medicine  and  surgery, 
public  buildings,  sitate  university  and 
the  penitentiary  at  Anamosa. 

My  first  bill  was  known  as  House 
Pile,  No.  5.  It  was  a  bill  for  an  act 
to  reward  the  persons  who  captured 
the  Barber  brothers,  reputed  mur- 
derers of  Marion  Shepard,  sheriff  of 
Fayette  county. 

The  persons  who  made  the  cap'^ure 
were  German  residents  of  Bremer 
county,  where,  after  a  desperate 
struggle,  in  which  one  of  the  men 
who  was  engaged  in  the  capture,  was 
killed  and  several  others  wounded, 
the  barbers,  two  brothers,  were  fin- 
ally overcome  and  taken  to  Waverly. 
Sometime  during  that  night  a  party 
from  the  locality  where  the  arrest 
was  maae  went  to  Waverly  and 
lynched. the  murderers,  hanging  them 
to  a  tree  near  the  city.  It  did  not 
appear,  however,  that  any  one  con- 
nected with  the  lynching  was  in  any 
way  associated  with  those  who  ha'I 
made  the  arrest,  for  if  it  had,  no 
reward  would  have  been  voted  by  the 
legislature.  The  bill  was  recommend- 
ed for  passage  by  the  committee  on 


appropriations  and  was  passed  by  a 
vote  of  ninety-one  for  and  two 
against. 

Several  other  measures  of  more  or 
less  importance  were  also  introduced 
by  me,  some  of  which  were  enacted 
into  law,  while  others  were  defeated. 
Thus  my  experience  as  a  legislator 
was  not  greatly  different  from  that 
of  the  average  member. 

The  winter  was  very  pleasantly 
spent  at  Des  Moines.  I  made  many 
acquaintances  among  public  men, 
and  also  enjoyed  meeting  with  num- 
erous old  army  friends,  whom  I  had 
not  seen  since  leaving  the  service. 

One  day,  toward  the  close  of  the 
session,  my  attention  was  called  to 
an  editorial  in  a  newspaper  recom- 
mending me  for  the  office  of  Secre- 
tary of  State.  It  was  a  great  sur- 
prise, for  the  thought  had  never  en- 
tered my  own  mind,  but  it  appeared 
that  some  of  my  friends,  after  can- 
vassing the  matter  had  concluded 
that  I  could  be  nominated  and  elect- 
ed, and  without  my  knowledge  had 
announced  me  as  a  suitable  person 
for  that  office.  The  matter  was 
taken  up  by  the  papers  of  the  state, 
some  of  which  gave  me  a  strong  en- 
dorsement. Several  of  the  members 
of  the  legislature  were  kind  enough 
to  voluntarily  offer  me  their  supyrrt, 
should  I  desire  the  nomination.  !•  o\v- 
ever,  I  could  not  see  my  way  clear  to 
leave  the  ministry  even  temporarily 
and  so  withdrew  my  name  from 
further  consideration.  I  wrote  to  this 
effect  to  the  Iowa  State  Register, 
and  the  next  day  that  paper  pub- 
lished my  letter,  and  with  it  the  fol- 
lowing comment: 

The  Hon.  Harry  H.  Green,  Repre- 
sentative in  the  Legislature  from 
Bremer  county,  has  been  proposed 
for  the  next  Republican  nomination 
for  Secretary  of  State,  and  the  sug- 


THE   SIMPLE   LIFE  OF  A   COMMONER 


14" 


gostion  was  received  with  great  pop- 
ular favor,  many  of  the  papers  cf 
Northern  Iowa  declaring  warmly  in 
his  favor.  Those  who  knew  him"  felt 
that  his  candidacy  would  represent 
unusual  personal  merit  and  entire 
competency  and  fitness.  Captain 
Green  has  lived  in  Iowa  over  thirty 
years,  and  has  established  a  name  of 
which  any  citizen  of  the  state  would 
be  proud.  He  was  a  captain  in  the 
Second  Iowa  Infantry,  and  made  a 
gallant  record.  Popular  opinion  has 
been  turning  directly  toward  him  as 
the  man  for  Secretary  of  State.  But 
by  the  following  letter  it  will  be  seen 
that  he  declines  to  be  a  candidate: 

Des  Moines,  :\larch  13. — Ed.  Reg- 
ister: My  name  having  been  men- 
tioned in  connection  with  the  office 
of  Secretary  of  State,  and  having  re- 
ceived many  strong  and  cordial  en- 
dorsements from  the  press,  as  well 
as  personal  letters,  from  different 
portions  of  the  state,  urging  me  to 
become  a  candidate,  it  gives  me 
great  pleasure  to  say  that  while  I 
cannot  allow  myself  to  yield  to  these 
kind  solicitations,  my  friends  have 
my  most  grateful  thanks  for  their 
kind  intentions  and  cheerful  offers 
of  aid  and  support.     Respecitfully, 

H.  H.  GREEN. 
The   captain's   decision   will   be  re- 
ceived   with    a   great    deal    of   regret, 
he  had  such  a  strong  following  ready 
to  support  him  for  the  position. 

It  would  probably  have  been  wiser, 
all  things  considered,  had  the  matter 
been  permitted  to  rest  with  the  pub- 
lication of  this  letter.  However, 
there  were  those  who  thought  other- 
wise, for  immediately  following  its 
appearance  I  received  many  expres- 
sions of  regret  from  different  parts 
of  the  sitate,  and  not  a  few  sugges- 
tions from  my  friends  urging  me  to 
re-consider  my  declination  and  re- 
enter the  race.  This,  after  many  con- 
sultations with  friends,  I  concluded 
to  do  which  was  doubtless  a  mistake. 
After  my  withdrawal  other  arrange- 
ments were  made  and  I  had  little 
chance   of   a   nomination.      Neverthe- 


less in  the  convention  I  was  given  a 
fine  complimentary  vote  of  about  two 
hundred,  which  under  tne  circum- 
stances  was  entirely  satisfactory. 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 

At  the  Conference  of  188  4  I  re- 
ceived my  first  appointment  as  Pre- 
siding Elder  of  the  Dubuque  District, 
and  at  once  moved  into  the  district 
parsonage  at  Epworth.  We  were  for- 
tunate in  our  place  of  residence,  be- 
cause that  village  was  the  seat  of  a 
seminary  under  control  of  the 
church,  and  as  our  older  children 
were  sufficiently  advanced  to  enter 
the  school  we  were  pleased  to  make 
Epworth  our  home  while  on  the  dis- 
trict. During  the  second  year  our 
eldest  daughter,  Anna,  became  a 
member  of  the  faculty,  as  a  teacher 
in  the  art  department,  where  she 
gave  instructions  in   painting. 

We  were  hardly  settled  in  our  new 
home  before  Mrs.  Green  was  made 
president  of  the  Woman's  Home  Mis- 
sionary Society,  a  position  altogether 
new  to  her.  At  the  first  meeting  of 
the  society  following  her  election, 
she  presided  for  the  first  time  in  her 
life  over  any  deliberative  body  of 
the  kind,  and  naturally  felt  nervous 
about  it.  Upon  returning  home  after 
the  session,  she  inquired  of  Marion, 
the  baby,  whom  she  had  taken  with 
her,  how  she  had  made  out  while  In 
the  chair.  Now,  however  it  may  be 
with  grown  up  people,  it  is  said  that 
children  always  tell  the  truth.  So 
in  reply  to  his  mother's  inquiry  the 
little  fellow  promptly  said:  "Well, 
mamma,  it  was  plain  to  be  seen  you 
were  not  onto  your  job."  An  opin- 
ion, which,  though  it  was  not  at  all 
complimentary,  was  certainly  honest 
and  quite  ingenious. 

The    Presiding    Eldership    was    en- 


148 


THE   SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


tirely  new  to  me  and  I  entered  upon 
its  duties  with  many  misgivings.  I 
felt  that  in  the  conference  there  were 
many  far  better  preachers,  and  not  a 
few,  whom  I  believed,  were  better 
equipped  in  other  ways  for  that  im- 
portant work,  but  Bishop  Bowman 
and  his  advisors  had  made  the  ap- 
pointment, and  I  must  do  the  be=t 
I  could.  The  preachers  received  me 
kindly  and  were  very  considerate  in 
their  judgment  of  the  new  "Elder," 
while  the  laity  gave  me  much  en- 
couragement. 

My  first  Quarterly  meeting  was 
held  at  Lamont,  where  the  Rev.  Wil- 
liam Montgomery  was  pastor.  I  was 
not  well  pleased  with  this  meeting, 
nor  do  I  think  the  people  felt  partic- 
ularly interested  either,  however, 
whatever  their  impressions  may  have 
been,  they  considerately  kept  them 
to  themselves. 

I  was  much  worried  over  the  Main 
street,  Dubuque  church,  and  really 
dreaded  to  go  there.  I  had  heard  so 
much  said  about  the  unpopularity  of 
Presiding  Elders  with  that  church, 
that  it  had  made  me  very  timid,  and 
so  I  postponed  my  first  appearance 
in  Dubuque  as  long  as  I  possibly  could 
But  the  time  came  when  it  could  be 
no  longer  delayed,  so  on  a  Sunday 
evening  I  quietly  slipped  into  the 
city  from  Reed's  chapel,  where  ser- 
vices had  been  held  in  th  morniU:^, 
and  made  my  way  to  the  parsonage. 
The  pastor.  Dr.  A.  H.  Ames,  at  once 
made  me  feel  that  1  was  among 
friends.  The  pastor's  family  was 
very  cordial,  and  did  everything  in 
their  power  to  make  things  pleasant 
for  me.  At  the  close  of  the  service 
the  doctor  invited  the  congregation 
to  come  forward  and  take  me  by  the 
hand,  which  they  did  in  large  num- 
bers,   at    the   same    time     expressing 


their  good  will  in  so  kind  and  warm- 
hearted a  way,  that  I  was  deeply 
touched,  and  was  then  and  there 
drawn  to  them  as  I  have  seldom  been 
to  any  people. 

One  hot  afternoon,  before  the 
Eighth  street  car  line  had  been  built, 
I  was  slowly  making  my  way  up 
Julian  avenue  toward  West  Dubuque, 
where  I  was  due  to  hold  a  Quarterly 
Conference,  and  when  about  half  way 
up  the  hill  I  was  confronted  by  a 
ragged  little  urchin.  Who,  eyeing  my 
grip,  stopped  me  with  the  question: 
"Have  ye'es  anythin'  to  sell?'  Tak- 
ing in  the  humor  of  the  situation,  1 
replied,  "No,  my  boy,  I  have  nothing 
to  sell.  What  was  it  you  were  want- 
ing to  buy?"  "Well,"  he  replied, 
"Oi  tought  ye'es  moight  have  tred 
or  somethin'."  "No,"  I  said,  "I  am 
not  selling  thread,  nor  buttons,  nor 
pins,  nor  needles,  I  am  just  on  my 
way  up  the  hill,"  and  I  moved  ou 
while  the  little  fellow  flitted  away 
down  the  avenue  whistling,  "St.  Pat- 
rick's Day  in  the  Morning,"  or  some 
other  popular  tune. 

I  found  many  old  soldiers  on  the 
district  who  never  failed  to  give  me 
a  comrade's  grip  and  a  pleasant 
word.  During  my  term  of  service  on 
that  field  I  had  many  opportunities 
to  talk  with  them  about  the  old  army 
days  in  Decoration  Day  addresses  and 
Memorial  services.  I  have  often 
thought  much  of  what  General  B.  M. 
Prentis  of  Shiloh  fame,  one  said  to 
me:  "Captain,  whenever  you  have 
an  opportunity  to  address  the  soldier 
boys,  improve  it  by  talking  to  them 
about  Christ  as  well  as  the  army 
life."  This  advice  came  to  me  as  a 
surprise,  for  I  had  heard  that  Gen- 
eral Prentis  bore  the  reputation, 
while  in  the  army,  of  being  one  of 
the  most  profane  of  our  officers.     Af- 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


149 


ter  leaving  the  service  it  appears 
that  he  had  been  converted  and  at 
once  became  a  zealous  soldier  of  the 
cross. 

With  nie  it  has  for  many  years 
been  a  problem  hard  to  solve,  why 
so  many  good  men  in  other  ways, 
should  be  unchaste  or  profane  in 
their  conversation,  a  ha'oit,  which, 
correctly  or  not,  is  charged  to  the 
soldier,  who  is  said  to  be  particular- 
ly given  to  it.  I  can  understand  why 
a  person  under  strong  temptation 
may  utter  a  falsehood,  a  man  may  be 
driven  into  theft  to  save  himself 
from  some  impending  calamity,  may 
even  commit  murder  under  strong 
provocation,  but  I  cannot  see  any 
reasonable  excuse  for  the  vile  habit 
of  profane  swearing.  It  certainly 
adds  nothing  either  to  the  beauty  or 
strength  of  language,  but  it  detracts 
from  both.  Moreover,  it  is  a  confes- 
sion of  weakness,  and  puts  the  user 
on  the  defensive;  he  places  himself 
in  the  attitude  of  one  who  fears  he 
will  not  be  believed  if  he  simply  ex- 
presses himself  in  pure,  plain  Eng- 
lish. So  he  thoughtlessly,  if  not  de- 
liberately, lowers  himself  from  the 
dignified  manliness  of  unsullied 
speech  into  the  gutter,  where  he 
rakes  up  the  muck  and  the  slime  and 
the  filth,  with  which  he  befouls  his 
utterances.  Nevertheless,  there  are 
people  who  seem  to  regard  profanity 
and  obscenity  as  real  accomplish- 
ments, as  though  it  were  a  manly 
thing  to  be  able  to  swear  shockingly, 
to  boast  and  swagger  in  the  foul  and 
vicious  mouthings  of  the  slums.  How- 
ever, decent  people  generally  shun 
this  vice  as  a  thing  unworthy  of 
them,  and  in  their  hearts  unsparing- 
ly condemn  it. 

As  the  fact  that  I  had  been  a  sol- 
dier  opened   the   way   for   me  among 


the  old  veterans,  so,  also,  to  some 
extent,  the  fact  that  I  had  been  a 
member  of  the  legislature  the  pre- 
ceding winter  and  had  taken  some 
part  in  its  work  in  behalf  of  temper- 
ance was  in  my  favor,  especially 
among  the  prohibitionists  who  have 
always  been  found  in  large  numbers 
in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church. 
I  had,  therefore,  no  reason  to  com- 
plain of  my  field  of  labor.  I  found 
the  district  well  manned  with  an  ex- 
cellent corps  of  preachers,  some  of 
whom  afterward  reached  distinction 
in  the  conference. 

In  the  spring  we  organized  a  Dis- 
trict Conference,  which  was  a  new 
departure  for  the  district,  for  before 
that  time  the  semi-annual  gatherings 
were  simply  Ministerial  Associations, 
whose  functions  were  purely  literary. 
At  the  first  session  of  the  newly  or- 
ganized body,  which  was  held  at  In- 
dependence, there  were  sixty-five 
members  present,  and  it  was  voted  a 
success,  for  it  was  a  profitable  ses- 
sion and  gave  great  satisfaction.  This 
organization  known  as  the  District 
Conference,  had  been  authorized  by 
the  General  Conference,  a  few  years 
previous,  and  was  by  that  body  in- 
vested with  certain  privileges  and 
clothed  with  certain  powers,  which 
were  designed  to  aid  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  discipline  of  the 
church.  It  is  composed  of  all  the 
traveling  and  local  preachers  within 
the  bounds  of  the  district,  together 
with  the  District  Stewards,  one  Class 
Leader,  one  President  of  an  Epworth 
League  chapter,  and  one  Sunday 
School  Superintendent  from  each 
pastoral  charge.  The  literary  feat- 
ures of  the  old  Ministerial  Associa- 
tion are  still  retained,  but  the  more 
important  functions  of  the  District 
Conference      are      to      license      local 


150 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


preachers,  examine  them  in  the 
course  of  studj-,  and  recommend  such 
as  are  believed  to  be  suitable  candi- 
dates for  the  Traveling  Connection, 
for  Admission  on  Trial,  in  an  Annual 
Conference.  The  body  meets  semi- 
annually and  usually  its  sessions 
cover  two  or  three  days. 

It  was  during  our  second  year  on 
the  district  that  our  eldest  daughter, 
Anna,  was  married  to  Mr.  J.  D.  May- 
nard  of  Janesville,  Iowa.  The  cere- 
mony took  place  at  our  home  in  Ep- 
worth,  September  9th,  1886.  It  was 
witnessed  by  several  of  our  preach- 
ers and  their  wives  as  well  as  a  large 
number  of  relatives  and  friends  from 
out  of  town. 

In  the  fall  of  1887  the  Annual 
Conference  assembled  at  Clinton, 
and  as  the  General  Conference  was  to 
convene  the  following  spring,  an 
election  was  held  for  the  choice  of 
delegates  to  that  body,  which  result- 
ed in  the  selection  of  A.  J.  Kynett, 
W.  F.  King,  H.  H.  Green,  J.  T.  Crip- 
pen  and  G.  W.  Brindell  from  the 
ministry,  and  J.  P.  Farley  of  Du- 
buque and  E.  A.  Snyder  of  Cedar 
Falls  from  the  laity.  The  General 
Conference  which  convened  in  New 
York  City,  May  1,  1888,  was  com^ 
posed  of  representative  men  from  all 
parts  of  the  world.  Each  Annual 
Conference  is  allowed  one  delegate 
for  every  fortj'-five  members  and  one 
for  a  fraction  of  thirty  or  over. 

The  General  Conference  meets 
every  four  years.  It  is  presided  over 
by  tiie  Bishops,  who  take  the  chair 
in  the  order  of  seniority  of  election. 
They  are  not  members  of  the  body, 
and  have  no  vote  or  voice  on  the 
floor,  except  by  courtesy  of  the  mem- 
bers. This  is  the  law  making  body 
of  the  church,  and  the  results  of  its 
actions    are    embodied    in    the    Disci- 


pline, which  is  the  code  of  the 
church, 

It  is  considered  a  great  honor  to 
be  elected  a  delegate  to  the  General 
Conference.  Charges  have  sometimes 
been  made  by  unfriendly  persons, 
that  unworthy  methods  are  employed 
in  the  selection  of  delegates.  While 
these  charges  are  not  true  In  the 
sense  of  being  in  any  way  criminal, 
it  is  nevertheless  to  be  regretted  that 
unseemly  scrambles  occasionally  mar 
these  elections,  which  certainly  give 
color  to  the  criticisms  which  are  so 
frequently  offered  by  persons  on  the 
outside.  There  is  nothing  in  any  way 
dishonorable  in  the  desire  to  serve 
the  church  in  its  law  making  body. 
The  ambition  is  entirely  commemi- 
able,  and  no  fair  minded  person  will 
be  disposed  to  criticise  the  friendly 
competition  which  characterizes  an 
election,  either  among  the  ministers 
or  the  laymen. 

When  the  time  arrived  for  our  de- 
parture for  New  York,  it  was  agreed 
among  some  of  the  western  delegates 
to  meet  at  the  Book  Rooms  in  Chi- 
cago, and  proceed  in  a  body  by  way 
of  Baltimore,  Washington  and  Phila- 
delphia. So  at  the  time  appointed 
we  gathered  there  and  selected  one 
of  our  number,  a  minister  from  Illin- 
ois, to  act  as  our  chaperon,  not  for 
considerations  of  propriety  so  much 
as  for  considerations  of  economy,  a 
move  which  proved  to  be  a  wise  one 
long  before  we  reached  our  destina- 
tion. Our  chaperon  purchased  the 
tickets  over  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio 
railroad,  and  right  glad  was  I  that  he 
had  chosen  that  route,  for  the  scen- 
ery was  varied  and  beautiful. 

Among  our  party  was  an  old  pio- 
neer preacher  from  Idaho,  who  be- 
came very  friendly  to  this  tender- 
foot, and  was  not  at  all  backward  in 


THE   SIMPLE   LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


151 


relating  his  experiences  .  in  the  far 
west,  much  to  our  delight.  He  was 
a  good  conversationalist  and  seldom 
failed  to  entertain  us.  One  day  as 
we  were  passing  over  the  Cumber- 
land Mountains,  I  incautiously  call- 
ed his  attention  to  the  fact  and  with 
considerable  enthusiasm  spoke  of  the 
great  height  of  the  mountains.  The 
old  man  turned  to  me  with  what 
seemed  to  be  a  look  of  pity,  and 
partly  of  scorn,  which  made  me  feel 
kind  of  creepy  like,  as  though  I  had 
been  guilty  of  some  breach  of  pro- 
priety or  something  about  as  bad  and 
he  said:  "Mountains,  do  you  call 
them  mountains?  Why  they  ain't 
nothin'  but  gopher  hills.  If  you  want 
to  see  mountains  just  take  a  run  out 
to  Idaho,  where  I  hit  the  trail,  an' 
you'll  see  'em  for  sure.  Why  you 
are  as  ignorant  of  what  a  real  moun- 
tain is  as  a  native,  a  friend  of  mine 
once  encountered  over  in  England. 
My  friend  had  been  traveling  in 
Scotland,  and  when  he  had  done  that 
country,  he  proceded  on  to  England. 
Passing  the  border  in  due  season,  he 
fell  in  with  a  native  of  the  north  of 
England,  who  became  interested  in 
him,  asking  many  questions  about 
the  United  States,  also  about  the 
places  he  had  visited  and  the  things 
he  had  seen  during  his  rambles  in 
Scotland.  Among  other  things  the 
Briton  wanted  to  know  the  route  the 
American  had  taken  in  his  journey 
south.  He  was  informed  as  to  the 
route  taken,  also  given  a  description 
of  the  scenes  and  experiences  along 
the  way.  'Why,  then,'  said  his  new 
friend,  'You  must  have  crossed  the 
mountains.'  'Mountains,  mountains,' 
replied  the  American,  'I  didn't  see 
no  mountains.'  'O,  but  you  must 
have  seen  them,'  said  the  English- 
man,   'why    there    was    Ben    Lomond 


and  Ben  Nevis  right  in  your  way, 
you  could  hardly  have  gone  around 
them.'  'Wal,  now  you  speak  of  it, 
I  remember  I  did  see  some  risin' 
ground  back  there  a  piece,  but  there 
warn't  no  mountains.'  "  After  a 
hearty  laugh  at  his  story  the  old  man 
settled  down  in  his  seat,  muttering 
to  himself  about  "the  greenness  of 
these  yere  eastern  tenderfeet,  who 
had  never  seen  nothin'  worth  while 
nohow,"  after  which  deliverance  he 
soon  dropped  into  a  doze  and  we  left 
him   to   his  dreams. 

Passing  through  Harper's  Ferry, 
immortalized  as  the  place  where 
John  Brown  met  his  death  at  the 
hands  of  enraged  slave  holders,  we 
pushed  on  to  Baltimore  and  Wash- 
ington. 

At  Washington  we  remained  sev- 
eral days,  visiting  the  places  of  in- 
terest, and  meeting  many  of  the  pub- 
lic men  of  the  nation,  among  whom 
was  Senator  Leland  Stanford,  by 
whom  with  his  lady  we  were  given 
a  reception  at  their  elegant  home 
and  made  to  spend  a  very  pleasant 
evening. 

Arriving  in  New  York  we  found 
ourselves  assigned  to  the  Grand  Cen- 
tral Hotel  on  Broadway,  where  we 
were  to  remain  for  the  session.  There 
we  found  many  delegates,  mostly 
from  the  west  and  middle  west,  prob- 
ably   two    hundred    and    fifty    in    all. 

The  General  Conference  was  held 
at  the  Metropolitan  opera  house,  at 
that  time,  I  think,  the  finest  building 
of  the  kind  in  the  city.  In  the  as- 
signment of  seats  it  was  the  custom 
to  write  the  names  of  the  conferences 
on  slips  of  paper  and  place  them 
in  a  box,  from  which  they  were 
drawn  by  some  one  appointed  for 
the  purpose  and  seats  were  chosen 
by  the  delegation  in  the  order  from 


lo2 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


which  they  came  from  the  box.  The 
chairman  of  each  delegation  made 
the  choice  for  his  conference,  but  in 
his  absence  the  person  next  on  the 
list  made  the  selection.  Now  it  so 
happened  that  when  the  assignments 
were  made,  which  was  done  the  even- 
ing before  the  organization  of  the 
body,  Dr.  Kynett,  the  chairman  of 
our  delegation  was  absent,  as  was 
also  Dr.  King,  so  that  it  fell  on  me 
to  act  for  our  delegates.  I  did  not 
know  they  were  not  present,  and  was 
taken  by  surprise  when  the  first  pa- 
per drawn  from  the  box  was  an- 
nounced as  the  Upper  Iowa  Confer- 
ence. However,  I  selected  a  seat 
well  to  the  front,  which  proved  to 
be  quite  satisfactory  to  our  people. 
Right  across  the  aisle  from  where 
we  sat  was  the  opera  box  of  Mrs. 
General  U.  S.  Grant,  which,  on  the 
first  day  of  the  session  was  occupied 
by  Colonel  F.  D.  Grant,  her  son,  and 
Dr.  J.  P.  Newman,  pastor  of  the 
Metropolitan  church  at  Washington, 
whom  I  had  met  in  that  city  a  few 
days  before.  Beckoned  across  the 
aisle  by  Dr.  Newman,  I  stepped  over 
to  where  they  were  seated  and  was 
introduced  to  Colonel  Fred  Grant, 
who  gave  me  a  very  cordial  greeting 
and  a  hearty  invitation  to  call  on  his 
wife  and  mother,  who  were  living  in 
New  York  at  that  time.  Of  cour-e  I 
was  delighted  with  this  invitation, 
for  I  had  served  under  the  great  sol- 
dier from  the  earliest  days  of  the 
Civil  War,  until  he  was  taken  from 
the  west  and  given  command  of  all 
the  armies  of  the  United  States.  Like 
almost  everyone  else  I  had  the  great- 
est admiration  for  his  manly  and  sol- 
dierly qualities,  so  of  course  T  was 
greatly  pleased  to  have  this  oppor- 
tunity of  meeting  Mrs.  Grant  and  her 
daughters.  Fixing  upon  an  evening 
for  my  call,  I  invited  my  chum,  the 


Rev.  J.  T.  Crippen,  who  had  also 
served  in  the  army  as  chaplain  of  a 
regiment  from  New  York  state,  to  ac- 
company me.  We  were  kindly  re- 
ceived by  Mrs.  Grant  and  her  daugh- 
ter and  spent  a  delightful  evening 
with  them,  for  they  did  everything 
in  their  power  to  make  it  pleasant 
for  us.  Nearly  all  the  valuable  pres- 
ents General  Grant  had  received 
while  abroad  on  his  trip  around  the 
world  had  been  presented  to  the 
government  and  were  on  deposit  at 
Washington,  but  there  was  a  mag- 
nificent picture  of  General  Philip 
Sheridan  which  had  been  painted  by 
a  great  artist  in  France,  that  had 
been  highly  eulogized  by  connoisseurs 
and  indeed  by  all  who  had  seen  it 
when  it  first  reached  this  country. 
Mrs.  Grant  called  our  attention  to  it 
quietly  saying:  "When  the  General" 
— she  always  spoke  of  her  husband 
as  the  General —  "turned  over  the 
other  things  to  the  government,  I  in- 
sisted that  this  picture  should  be 
reserved,  for  General  Sheridan  was 
his  favorite  officer  and  I  could  not 
part  with  it."  Then  while  Dr.  Crip- 
pen was  being  entertained  by  Mrs. 
F.  D.  Grant,  she  said  to  me:  "Now 
draw  up  your  rooking  chair,  and  we 
will  have  a  comfortable  visit  togeth- 
er." She  had  much  to  say  about  her 
experiences  in  Virginia  at  the  time 
of  the  later  campaigns  in  that  state, 
where  she  quite  frequently  went  to 
the  front  to  be  with  her  husband. 

Immediately  following  the  election 
of  Dr.  J.  P.  Newman  to  the  episco- 
pacy, there  was  some  talk  about  the 
means  which  it  was  said  had  been 
employed  to  bring  it  about.  Some 
went  so  far  as  to  say  that  he  could 
not  have  been  elected  except  through 
the  influence  of  General  Grant,  who 
was  his  warm  personal  friend.  It 
was  urged  that   Dr.  Newman  had  on 


THK   SIMPLE   LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


ir,:{ 


one  occasion  declined  to  serve  as  pas- 
tor of  a  church  to  which  he  had  been 
appointed  by  the  authorities  of  the 
church,  and  that  alleged  insurbor- 
dination  was  used  against  him  when 
his  name  was  proposed  for  the  epis- 
copal office. 

Just  before  the  election  of  bishops 
I  received  a  letter  from  one  of  the 
preachers  on  my  district,  urging  me 
to  do  everything  in  my  power  to  pre- 
vent his  election.  The  letter  reached 
me  just  after  my  visit  at  Mrs.  Grant's 
home,  and  I  speak  of  it  only  be- 
cause it  expressed  a  feeling,  however 
mistaken,  which  existed  among  some 
of  the  preachers.  That  IMrs.  Grant 
vvas  interested  in  the  election  of  Dr. 
Newman  is  true  enough,  indeed  she 
greatly  desired  it,  for  he  had  been 
her  pastor  while  they  were  at  Wash- 
ington, and  also  afterward  in  New 
\ork.  Of  course  they  became  at- 
tached to  him  and  to  Mrs.  Newman, 
who  was  one  of  the  elect  ladies  of 
Methodism,  Mrs.  Grant  freely  ex- 
pressed her  hope  that  he  might  be 
chosen    as   one    of   the   new   bishops. 

She  asked  me  if  I  thought  there 
would  be  any  impropriety  in  making 
her  interest  in  the  matter  known  to 
the  delegates.  I  assured  her  that 
in  my  judgment  it  would  be  very 
pro>per.  I  said:  "Mrs.  Grant,  you  are 
a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church  and  you  have  the  same  rights 
in  the  church  as  have  other  mem- 
bers; we  all  have  our  choice  in  these 
matters,  nor  can  any  one  reasonably 
object  to  an  expression  of  this  choice. 
There  are  two  men  whose  election  I 
greatly  desire  because  I  believe  they 
are  worthy,  and  I  propose  to  do  what 
I  can  in  an  honorable  way  to  bring 
it  about.  One  is  Dr.  A.  J.  Kynett 
and  the  other  is  Dr.  J.  P.  Newman." 
"Well,"  she  said,  "T  am  glad  to  hear 
you  speak  so,  for  I  am  expecting  the 


members  of  the  General  Conference, 
who  were  soldiers  to  spend  an  even- 
ing with  me,  and  I  should  like  to 
have  them  know  how  we  feel  toward 
Dr.  Newman,  but  I  should  hesitate 
to  do  so  unless  I  was  assured  it 
would   be  entirely  proper." 

A  few  evenings  later  most  of  the 
soldier  delegates  paid  their  respects 
to  Mrs.  Grant,  and  from  that  inci- 
dent, word  went  out  over  the  church 
that  it  was  the  soldiers  in  the  Gen- 
eral Conference  who  elected  Newman 
bishop,  just  to  please  Mrs.  Grant. 
Of  course  that  was  sheer  nonsense, 
for  the  soldier  delegates  as  well  as 
others  voted  for  .1.  P.  Newman  be- 
cause they  recognized  in  him  bishop 
timber,  and  because  some  of  them  at 
least  felt  that  the  opposition  to  him 
was  born  and  nurtured  by  a  narrow- 
ness which  had  no  proper  place  in 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  church.  That 
their  choice  was  a  wise  one,  was 
fully  justified  by  the  record  of  Bishop 
Newman  during  his  Episcopal  career, 
for  the  office  was  magnified  in  him. 

The  all-absorbing  question  before 
that  General  Conference,  however, 
was  the  eligibility  of  women  as  dele- 
gates. It  was  claimed  by  some  that 
the  word  "Laymen,"  in  the  Disci- 
pline should  be  interpreted  so  as  to 
mean  both  sexes,  while  others  stout- 
ly maintained  that  it  could  only  ap- 
ply to  men.  Two  women  had  been 
elected  as  delegates  and  were  pres- 
ent seeking  admission.  The  question 
of  their  legal  status  as  to  seats  in 
the  body  was  before  us  and  it  must 
be  fairly  met  and  dealt  with.  A  few 
great  speeches  were  made  on  either 
side  of  the  question  by  representative 
men  of  the  church  which  would  have 
done  honor  to  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States,  or  the  Parliament  of 
Great  Britain  in  their  palmiest  days. 
It  was  finally  agreed  that  the  ques- 


154 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


tion  should  be  submitted  to  a  vote 
of  the  Annual  Conferences,  inasmuch 
as  it  involved  a  change  in  one  of  the 
restrictive  rules  which  could  not  be 
made  until  acted  on  and  agreed  to 
by  the  Annual  Conferences.  The 
necessary  steps  were  taken  and  wo- 
man was  finally  admitted  to  the  Gen- 
eral Conference,  to  her  great  satis- 
faction. So  many  preliminary  steps 
were  necessary  however,  before  it 
could  be  accomplished,  that  she  did 
not  take  her  seat  until  twelve  years 
later. 

I  greatly  enjoyed  that  month  in 
New  York.  The  sessions  of  the  Con- 
ference were  held  in  the  forenoon 
and  committee  meetings  in  the  af- 
ternoon, while  the  evenings  were  oc- 
cupied with  addresses  by  distinguish- 
ed members  of  the  body,  and  by  not- 
ed visitors  and  representatives  of 
other  churches.  I  had  been  placed 
on  the  committee  on  Itinerancy  and 
on  the  Freedmen's  Aid  Society,  as- 
signments which  pleased  me  well. 
The  committee  on  Itinerancy  ranking 
second  only  to  that  of  Episcopacy, 
which  is  always  given  to  the  chair- 
man of  the  delegation. 

A  good  many  of  my  evenings  were 
spent  at  the  Florence  Mission  on 
Bleecker  street,  which  was  open  all 
night,  every  evening  in  the  week. 
Here  were  gathered  the  thugs  and 
tihieves  and  cut-throats  of  the  Bow- 
ery, and  the  slums  of  the  city.  Fallen 
women  in  great  numbers  were 
brought  in  and  everything  done  to 
rescue  them  from  the  awful  life  they 
were  living,  that  love  could  suggest 
or  means  provide.  A  good  lady  of 
great  wealth  had  charge  of  the  mis- 
sion and  she  devoted  her  time  to  bet- 
tering the  condition  of  the  under- 
current of  the  city,  among  whom  she 
was  exceedingly  popular,  and  it  was 
said  that  she  could  go  anywhere  in 


any  part  of  the  city  at  any  time,  day 
or  night,  alone,  without  fear  of 
molestation.  The  worst  characters 
of  the  slums  were  her  protectors  and 
would  have  given  their  lives  in  her 
defense.  The  room  in  which  the 
meetings  were  held  was  always  filled 
to  overflowing.  The  singing  and 
praying  and  much  of  the  speaking 
was  done  by  those  who  had  been  res- 
cued and  converted.  Men  and  women 
would  come  in  and  go  out  again  just 
as  it  pleased  them,  all  night  long, 
without  in  any  way  disturbing  the 
meeting,  and  it  was  said  much  good 
was  done  in  that  mission,  of  which 
I  have  not  the  slightest  doubt. 

Of  course  I  visited  Central  Park, 
Bedloe's  Island  and  the  Statue  of 
Liberty,  the  Brooklyn  cemetery, 
where  I  stood  beside  the  grave  of 
Henry  Ward  Beecher,  besides  many 
other  places  of  interest  usually  visit- 
ed by  strangers  in  the  city.  As  long 
as  I  can  remember,  anything  and 
everything  pertaining  to  nautical 
affairs  has  had  an  unusual  Interest 
for  me;  the  busy  scenes  to  be  viewed 
in  the  great  harbors  of  the  world 
posesses  peculiar  attractions;  the 
great  ocean  steamers,  the  sailing  ves- 
sels of  all  sorts  and  sizes,  sea  going 
craft  plying  between  the  sea  ports 
of  the  world,  laden  with  men  and 
merchandise,  also  river  craft  of  all 
kinds  are  exceedingly  interesting  to 
me,  therefore  I  spend  much  time 
about  the  wharves  whenever  oppor- 
tunity  offers. 

Noticing  one  day  in  a  city  paper 
that  the  City  of  Rome  had  just  arriv- 
ed from  Europe,  I  was  seized  with  a 
desire  to  explore  the  great  ship,  so 
I  suggested  to  a  brother  preacher 
that  we  make  a  pilgrimage  to  the 
harbor  and  if  possible  get  permission 
to  look  her  over.  He  readily  assent- 
ed and  together  we  proceeded  to  the 


THE   SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


155 


waterside.  Upon  application  to  the 
officer  in  charge,  he  politely  detailed 
another  officer  to  show  us  over  the 
vessel.  The  gentleman  was  very 
courteous,  showing  us  everything  of 
interest  about  the  ship  and  explain- 
ing what  we  did  not  understand.  Of 
course  we  were  deeply  interested  in 
the  magnificent  ship,  for  she  was  a 
noble  vessel  and  well  worthy  to  be 
called  the  "Ocean  Greyhound."  Nev- 
er had  I  seen  such  a  magnificent 
creature;  I  was  delighted  with  her, 
and  well  I  might  be  for  she  was  at 
that  time  the  largest  and  finest 
steamship  plying  the  seas. 

A  few  days  afterward  I  learned 
that  the  Palgrave,  said  to  be  the 
largest  sailing  vessel  afloat  was  lying 
at  her  moorings  in  Brooklyn.  Noth- 
ing would  do  but  I  must  board  her 
as  I  had  done  the  City  of  Rome,  so 
I  crossed  over  to  Brooklyn  and  made 
my  way  down  to  the  pier  wnere  I 
soon  discovered  her  a  giant  among 
pygmies,  lying  at  anchor  in  the  quiet 
harbor.  One  of  the  mates  took  me 
in  hand  and  showed  me  over  the  ves- 
sel. From  him  I  learned  that  she 
was  engaged  in  the  China  tea  trade, 
and  had  only  reached  port  a  day  or 
two  before.  Fortunate  indeed  was  I 
in  the  opportunity  and  pleasure  of 
inspecting  these  two  marvels  of  ship- 
craft,  and  once  again,  after  a  period 
of  thirty-five  years,  testing  my  teeth 
on  pilot  bread. 

Upon  returning  to  the  hotel  my 
thoughts  began  to  run  something 
after  this  sort:  Suppose  these  two 
big  ships  were  to  weigh  anchor  and 
make  to  sea  at  precisely  the  same 
hour,  reaching  the  open  sea  and  pro- 
ceeding on  their  way  abreast  of  each 
Kjther;  the  Palgrave  propelled  by  a 
strong  fair  wind  and  the  City  of 
Rome  by  steam.  In  this  way  they 
proceed    on   their    voyage,    no   appre- 


ciable difference  appearing  between 
them,  until  after  a  time,  the  wind 
gradually  falls  away  and  the  sails  of 
the  Palgrave  flap  loosely  and  idly 
against  her  masts,  causing  her  to 
lose  her  speed  and  drop  behind, 
while  her  consort  moving  steadily 
forward,  speeds  on  her  way  across 
the  sea.  It  is  then  that  the  vast 
disparity  between  the  two  great  ships 
appears.  The  steamer  is  superior  to 
the  sailor  only  in  the  pre-eminence 
of  her  propelling  power,  for  in  all 
other  respects  they  are  equal.  The 
City  of  Rome  is  moved  by  an  inward 
force,  which  renders  her  practically 
independent  of  outward  conditions, 
she  is  driven  from  within,  and  needs 
only  to  keep  her  furnace  fires  burn- 
ing, while  the  Palgrave  is  wholly  de- 
pendent on  influences  from  the  out- 
side. When  these  outward  influences 
are  favorable,  she  moves  rapidly  and 
consistently  forward,  but  when  they 
are  adverse,  when  she  faces  a  head 
wind  she  tosses  about,  hither  and 
yon  unable  to  make  headway,  or  even 
to  hold  her  own,  and  alas,  when  the 
wind  goes  down  she  is  utterly  help- 
less for  she  can  only  drift  or  lie  idly 
on  the  bosom  of  the  sea. 

Men  and  women  are  quite  like 
ships  on  the  ocean,  some  are  actuated 
by  living  principles  within,  which  en- 
able them  to  move  resolutely  for- 
ward regardless  of  opposing  forces 
from  without,  overriding  all  oppo- 
sition, steadily  pursuing  their  way, 
and  holding  the  true  course  In  life 
because  they  have  faith  and  courage 
and  patience,  all  the  graces  of  the 
Spirit  to  hold  and  direct  them  even 
in  the  wildest  tempest  or  the  dead- 
liest calm.  Others  there  are,  who 
seem  to  be  almost  wholly  the  crea- 
tures of  circumstance.  They  allow 
themselves  to  be  controlled  by  out- 
ward    conditions,     they     are     weak 


15(3 


THE   SIMPLE   LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


where  tney  should  be  strong,  because 
unlike  the  sailing  vessel,  they  have 
been  given  dominion  which  might 
be  employed  even  as  others  employ 
it.  They  permit  themselves  to  be- 
come inert,  becalmed,  when  imme- 
diate action  is  called  for,  where  the 
other  kind  would  assert  themselves 
by  their  own  innate  force  of  char- 
acter, and  pursue  their  way  superior 
to  wind  and  wave. 

The  year  following  was  the  twen- 
ty-fifth anniversary  of  our  wedding 
and  some  of  the  preachers  on  the 
district  knowing  of  it,  arranged  to 
help  us  celebrate  the  occasion.  They 
joined  with  the  people  of  Epworth 
and  took  matters  into  their  own 
hands,  and  nearly  all  the  preachers 
of  the  district,  also  a  large  company 
from  Epworth  and  other  places  were 
present.  In  the  afternoon.  Dr.  J.  S. 
McCord,  pastor  at  Dubuque,  on  be- 
half of  the  preachers  presented  us 
with  a  beautiful  silver  water  set, 
and  in  the  evening  we  were  made 
the  recipients  of  an  elegant  tea  set 
of  silver  by  the  citizens  of  Epworth 
and  other  parts  of  the  district.  It 
was  a  most  enjoyable  occasion,  cer- 
tainly our  family  appreciated  the 
kindness  shown  us,  not  only  in  the 
beautiful  gifts  but  more  in  the  hear- 
ty congratulations  which  were'  show- 
ered upon  us  on  every  hand. 

The  following  Sunday  I  conducted 
a  love-feast  in  one  of  our  churches, 
and  in  my  opening  remarks  made 
grateful  reference  to  the  goodness  of 
God,  as  manifested  in  the  preserva- 
tion of  our  lives,  incidentally  speak- 
ing of  the  wedding  anniversary  and 
the  gift  of  silver  which  we  had  re- 
ceived. I  had  no  sooner  taken  my 
seat,  however,  than  the  preacher, 
who  was  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
characters  I  have  ever  known,  wheth- 
er   intentionally,    or    otherwise,     has 


never  api  eared,  began  to  sing,  "I 
care  not  for  riches,  neither  silver 
nor  gold,"  etc.  There  was  a  smile 
on  many  faces  at  the  words,  appar- 
ently so  artlessly  uttered,  but  the 
love-feast  proceeded  as  usual  and  a 
rare  good  time  it  was. 

There  are  many  occasions  in  the 
life  of  a  Methodist  minister  when 
the  regular  routine  is  brightened  by 
some  happy  incident  or  by  the  humor 
of  some  brother  who  bubbles  over 
with  kindly  wit.  At  one  of  our  Dis- 
trict ■  Conferences  a  preacher  who 
was  holding  down  a  nearby  charge, 
in  his  report,  which  was  given  verb- 
ally, talked  so  long  and  so  dismally 
about  the  spiritual  condition  of  his 
church,  that  everyone  \\:as  out  of 
1  atience  with  him,  and  his  gloomy 
representation.  At  length,  however, 
when  he  had  wearied  everybody  out, 
he  sat  down  in  the  midst  of  a  pro- 
found silence.  No  sooner  had  he 
taken  his  seat,  than  the  Rev.  John 
W.  Clinton,  who  was  our  secretary 
and  was  seated  by  my  side,  slowly 
arose  and  with  an  expression  on  his 
face  somewhere  between  a  smile  of 
innocence  and  a  grim  of  derision, 
raised  his  hand  as  though  he  wanted 
to  command  particular  attention, 
and  then  pointing  his  finger  at  the 
brother  who  had  been  speaking,  be- 
gan in  his  own  inimitable  way  to 
quote  the  hymn: 

"Hark!    from    the    toombs    a    doleful 
sound. 

My  ears,  attend  the  cry: 
Ye  living  men,  come  view  the  ground 

Where  you  must  shortly  lie." 

He  was  not  allowed  to  go  any 
futher  than  the  first  stanza,  for  such 
a  storm  of  applause,  such  clapping 
of  hands  and  such  shouts  of  laughter 
filled  the  house  as  I  have  seldom 
heard  anywhere,  and  though  the 
doleful  one  tried  over  and  over  again 
to    make    himself   heard    in    his   own 


THE   SIMPLE   LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


defense,  no  one  would  listen  to  him, 
so  he  was  finally  obliged  to  give  it 
up  and  take  his  medicine  as  many  a 
one  before  him  has  done.  The  re- 
ports which  followed  took  on  a 
brighter  hue,  as  well  they  might,  for 
however  necessary  it  may  be  to  un- 
cover the  soil  where  deposits  are  to 
be  found  which  are  not  pleasant  to 
the  eye,  or  to  the  taste,  it  is  not  ab- 
solutely necessary,  nor  is  it  always 
wise  to  expose  them  to  the  public 
gaze.  There  are  some  things  which 
had  better  be  let  alone  'entirely,  and 
some  other  things  which  should  be 
handled   gingerly,   but   not   cowardly. 

The  General  Conference  at  New 
York  had  made  some  changes  which 
affected  both  Presiding  Elders  and 
Pastors.  The  term  of  the  Pastor  was 
extended  from  three  years  to  five 
years  and  the  term  of  the  Presiding 
Elder  from  four  to  six  years.  My 
term  on  the  Dubuque  District  did  not 
therefore  expire  until  the  fall  of 
1890. 

I  had  been  elected  a  trustee  of 
Epworth  Seminary  and  also  of  Upper 
Iowa  University,  during  my  first 
year  on  the  district.  Upon  my  re- 
moval from  Epworth,  I  asked  to  be 
relieved  from  the  trusteeship  of  the 
seminary,  but  was  continued  on  the 
board  of  Upper  Iowa  University. 

Our  last  year  at  Epworth  was  sad- 
dened by  the  death  of  our  little  son 
Robert.  His  mother  and  I  were  away 
from  home  attending  a  church  meet- 
ing at  Independence,  when  he  was 
taken  ill.  Toward  the  close  or  the 
meeting  word  came  to  us  that  he  was 
very  sick  and  we  hastened  home  to 
find  him  sick  beyond  recovery.  The 
dear  little  fellow  was  suffering  with 
peritonitis  and  died  after  a  brief  ill- 
ness of  four  days,  at  ten  years  of 
age.  He  was  a  bright,  loveable  boy, 
and  his  loss  was  a  sore  grief  to  us, 


but  our  faith  in  God  and  His  prom- 
ise.s  concerning  the  future  has  ever 
been  a  comfort  to  us  for  we  have 
the  hope  that  we  shall  meet  him 
again  sometime. 

The  Annual  Conference  was  for 
the  second  time  held  at  Decorah,  in 
the  autumn  of  1890,  with  Bishop  S. 
M.  Merrill  presiding.  The  sessions 
of  the  cabinet,  that  is  the  meetings 
of  the  Bishop  and  Presiding  Elders 
were  held  at  the  home  of  Mr.  An- 
drew Groves,  where  the  Bishop  was 
entertained. 

The  Presiding  Elders,  who  are  the 
advisors  of  the  Bishop,  assist  him 
in  making  the  appointments  of  the 
preachers.  Many  of  the  appoint- 
ments, however,  are  arranged  as  far 
as  possible  by  the  Presiding  Elders 
before  they  reach  the  seat  of  the  con- 
ference. Each  Elder  is  expected  to 
look  after  his  own  district,  and  see 
that  both  churches  and  preachers 
are  properly  cared  for.  Generally, 
on  all  the  districts  a  majority  of 
the  preachers  are  successful  and 
these  he  seeks  to  retain,  but  those 
who  for  any  reason  are  undesirable, 
he  is  willing  to  part  with,  and  is 
always  ready  to  exchange  for  some 
other  man  he  likes  better.  But  these 
exchanges  are  not  always  easy  to 
bring  about.  Naturally  each  Presid- 
ing Elder  seeks  after  the  best  men 
and  when  he  secures  one  who  is 
desirable,  he  retains  him  as  long  as 
he  can  do  so  without  doing  him  an 
injustice,  by  standing  in  the  way  of 
his  promotion.  Considerable  diplo- 
matic skill,  if  not  the  highest  grade 
of  piety  is  needed  in  the  making  of 
appointments,  and  even  then,  after 
the  very  best  in  the  judgment  of  the 
appointing  powers  has  been  done,  a 
few  of  the  preachers  and  a  few  of 
the  churches  will  inevitably  feel  ag- 
grieved. 


158 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


It  is  chiefly  in  the  higher  grades 
of  appointments  that  the  Bishop 
figures  most  conspicuously,  for  it  is 
almost  always  concerning  these 
stronger  charges  that  contentions 
arise.  They  are  of  course  the  most 
desirable,  the  larger  churches  want 
the  best  preachers,  and  the  best 
preachers  want  the  larger  churches, 
which  is  all  natural  enough,  provid- 
ed the  campaign  is  conducted  in  the 
right  spirit,  and  it  usually  is.  The 
Bishop  acts  in  the  capacity  of  a  judge 
or  arbitrator,  and  when  occasion 
calls  for  his  interference,  which  is 
quite  often,  he  decides  the  points  at 
issue  between  the  Presiding  Elders, 
and  from  his  decision  there 'is  no 
appeal.  As  one  of  the  bishops  face- 
tiously remarked:  "The  Presiding 
Elders  make  the  appointments,  and 
the  Bishops  fix  them,"  which  is  un- 
doubtedly true,  at  least  the  preach- 
ers sometimes  think  so. 

It  is  customary  among  our  bishops 
at  the  opening  session  of  the  cabinet, 
to  inquire  if  there  are  any  formal 
complaints  against  any  of  the  preach- 
ers, and  there  are  any  to  take  such 
steps  as  may  be  necessary  for  an 
investigation.  The  next  thing  is  to 
make  such  changes  in  the  boundaries 
of  the  districts  or  circuits  as  may  be 
deemed  advisable.  After  these  things 
have  been  attended  to,  the  work  of 
making  the  appointments  of  the 
preachers  begins,  and  is  generally 
done  in  the  following  order:  The 
list  of  charges  in  each  district  are 
carefully  gone  over  and  the  preach- 
ers who  are  to  return  for  another 
year  are  agreed  upon.  Next  it  is 
ascertained  who  may  go  back  with- 
out detriment  to  the  work,  in  case 
the  wisest  adjustments  of  the  con- 
ference seem  to  demand  their  return. 

Finally,  all  cases  where  it  seems 
advisable    that    the    preacher    should 


remove  to  another  field  of  labor  are 
considered,  and  such  dispositions 
are  made  as  appear  to  be  for  the 
greatest  good  of  all  concerned.  Al- 
ways it  requires  every  afternoon,  and 
often  some  of  the  evenings  to  per- 
form the  work  of  the  cabinet,  toward 
which  the  eyes  of  every  preacher  and 
every  church  are  turned,  for  vast  in- 
terests are  at  stake,  often  far  reach- 
ing  in   their   consequences. 

We  received  many  expressions  of 
good  will  from  the  preachers  and 
churches  of  the  district  at  the  close 
of  our  term,  which  were  very  highly 
prized  by  us.  Following  is  one  which 
was  adopted  at  the  last  District  Con- 
ference: 

RESOLUTION. 

Adopted  with  a  unanimous  vote  by 
the  Dubuque  District  Conference,  at 
its  Eleventh  Semi-Annual  Session, 
held  at  Independence,  June  30  to 
July    2,    1890. 

Whereas,  our  beloved  brother. 
Rev.  H.  H.  Green,  is  now  closing  his 
sixth  year  as  Presiding  Eledr  of  Du- 
buque District  of  the  Upper  Iowa 
Conference,    therefore. 

Resolved,  that  we,  the  members 
of  this  Disrtict  Conference,  take 
pleasure  in  bearing  testimony  to  the 
able  and  successful  manner  in  which 
he  has  administered  the  work  of  the 
district,  the  uniform  christian  cour- 
tesy, impartiality,  kindness  and  zeal 
that  have  characterized  our  brother 
in  private,  social  and  official  rela- 
tions, and  if  the  law  of  the  cnurch 
permitted,  we  would  gladly  have 
him  continue  longer  in  office. 

As  by  the  order  of  the  church  his 
official  relations  must  soon  cease, 
we  assure  him  that  he  will  carry  with 
him  our  love,  our  esteem,  and  our 
prayers. 
S.  N.  Felt.ows  Nathaniel  Pye 

A.    M.    MolNTOSH  L.    L.   LOCKARD 


THE  SIMPLE   LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


lo'l 


After  my  report  had  been  made  to 
the  Conference,  Dr.  J.  S.  McCord,  on 
behalf  of  the  ministers  of  the  dis- 
trict, presented  me  with  a  gold 
watch,  saying  some  very  touching 
things,  to  which  I  responded  as  well 
as  I   could,  for  the  beautiful  gift. 

There  happened  to  be  three  Dis- 
trict vacancies  that  fall,  Cedar 
Rapids  and  Decorah  changing  as  well 
as  Dubuque.  J.  B.  Albrook  was  ap- 
pointed to  the  Cedar  Rapids  District 
and  J.  H.  Rigby  to  the  Dubuque  Dis- 
trict. Several  preachers  serving 
charges  on  the  Decorah  District  had 
been  prominently  mentioned  in  con- 
nection with  that  vacancy  and  as  all 
of  them  were  good,  capable  men,  it 
was  not  so  easy  to  make  a  selection. 

On  Saturday  afternoon.  Bishop 
Merrill  said  to  me:  "Brother  Green, 
do  you  think  you  can  stand  it  if  I 
don't  settle  your  appointment  until 
Monday  morning;  will  it  interfere 
with  your  enjoyment  of  the  Sab- 
bath?" "Not  at  all,"  I  replied,  "the 
matter  is  in  your  hands  and  what- 
ever you  do  will  no  doubt  be  for  the 
best." 

On  Monday  morning  the  cabinet 
was  called  together  for  its  final  ses- 
sion and  the  Bishop  said  to  us: 
"Well,  brethren,  I  have  decided  to 
place  Brother  Green  on  the  Decorah 
District;   let  us  go  to  the  church." 

The  appointments  were  then  read, 
and  I  found  myself  at  the  head  of 
another  district,  on  which  I  was  des- 
tined to  remain  for  the  next  six 
years. 

The  transfer  of  a  Presiding  Elder 
from  one  district  to  another  without 
an  interval  in  the  pastorate,  was 
something  quite  unusual  in  the  econ- 
omy of  Methodism  at  that  time.  My 
new  appointment,  therefore,  came  as 
a  surprise  to  most  of  the  preachers. 
Methodist    ministers    are    among    the 


most  loyal  people  in  the  world,  and 
with  the  exception  of  a  little  hand- 
ful— -some  of  whom  were  themselves 
aspirants  for  the  office — the  action 
of  the  Bishop  was  quite  well  re- 
ceived. 

Knowing  that  we  must  of  neces- 
sity leave  Epworth,  our  goods  were 
already  packed  when  Conference  ad- 
journed. Nothing  remained  there- 
fore, but  to  charter  a  car,  get  our 
goods  on  and  move  to  our  new  field, 
making  our  home  at  Decorah,  where 
I  had  already  rented  a  house,  which 
we  afterward  purchased,  and  occu- 
pied during  my  term  on  the  district. 

I  discovered  in  this  new  field  of 
labor  a  few  places  which  had  never 
been  occupied  by  Methodism,  and  a 
few  others  where  formerly  churches 
flourished,  but  had  been  abandoned, 
for  various  reasons,  chiefly  on  ac- 
count of  the  removal  of  our  people 
to  other  sections  of  the  country.  In 
nearly  every  instance  they  would  sell 
to  foreigners,  either  German,  Bohem- 
ian or  Norwegian,  who  were  not  al- 
ways in  sympathy  with  us.  The  Ger- 
mans and  Bohemians  were  generally 
Roman  Catholics  and  the  Norwegians 
principally  Lutherans.  Nevertheless, 
a  goodly  number  of  the  Norwegians, 
as  well  as  other  Scandinavians,  are 
to  be  found  in  our  Methodist 
churches. 

We  were  not  given  any  missionary 
money  by  the  Parent  Missionary  So- 
ciety, so  we  were  compelled  to  grap- 
ple with  these  problems  in  our  own 
strength,  alone.  To  me  it  was  a  ser- 
ious matter,  and  I  cast  about  for 
ways  and  means  to  meet  it.  As  there 
was  at  that  time  no  help  to  be  had 
from  the  Womans'  Home  Missionary 
Society  of  the  church,  I  resolved  to 
appeal  to  the  women  of  the  district, 
and  enlist  their  co-operation  as  far 
as  possible,  so  I  organized  what  we 


160 


THE   SIMPLE   LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


called  "The  Womans'  Christian  Com- 
pact," a  new  departure,  which  prov- 
ed quite  successful  and  elicited  much 
commendation  from  the  authorities 
of  the  church.  Following  is  the  pact: 
AGREEMENT. 

We,  whose  names  are  hereunto  at- 
tached, do  enter  into  agreement  with 
our  sifters  of  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal church,  and  with  all  who  love 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  under  the 
name  of,  "THE  WOMAN'S  CHRIS- 
TIAN COMPACT  OF  DECORAH  DIS- 
TRICT," and  having  for  our  ouject 
the  furtherance  of  the  gospel  within 
the  bounds  of  the  said  district,  being 
impressed  with  the  imperative  needs 
of  places  adjacent  to  our  stations  and 
circuits  which  are  without  the  gos- 
pel, and  of  others  where  the  gospel 
is  not  preached  in  the  English  l?,n- 
guage:  and  still  others  where  flour- 
ishing Methodist  or  other  protestant 
churches  once  existed,  but  which 
have  been  abandoned  on  account  of 
removals  of  our  English  speaking 
people.  We,  the  women  of  Decorah 
District,  adopt  the  following  as  our 
motto:  "Redeem  the  Waste  Places 
and  Extend  the  Redeemer's  King- 
dom," and  we  will  each  contribute 
without  prejudice  to  the  regular 
benevolences  of  the  church,  not  less 
than  one  dollar  yer  year,  to  be  ap- 
plied: 

First.  In  the  purchase  of  a  large 
tent  which  shall  be  capable  of  seat- 
ing at  least  four  hundred  people,  to 
be  used  in  the  work  of  Evangeliza- 
tion in  neglected  places  during  the 
summer  months. 

Second.  To  establish  and  main- 
tain regular  services  in  localities 
where  there  is  now  no  preaching  in 
the   English   tongue. 

Third.  To  re-occupy  abandoned 
fields  and  put  the  gospel  again  before 
the  people. 

Each  Local  Compact  shall  select 
annually  at  such  time  and  place  as 
may  be  most  convenient,  one  of  its 
number,  who  shall  act  as  Custodian 
of  the  Funds,  and  shall  receive  from 
the  members  their  contributions,  giv- 
ing her  receipt  for  the  same.  She 
shall  forward  to  the  Presiding  Elder 
of  the  district,  quarterly,  such  funds 


as  may  be  in  her  possession,  and  his 
receipt  shall  be  her  voucher.  She 
shall  also  report  at  each  annual 
meeting  the  amounts  of  money  re- 
ceived, who  from,  and  what  disposi- 
tion has  been  made  of  it. 

The  Presiding  Elder  of  the  dis- 
trict, who  shall  have  general  charge 
of  the  work,  shall  direct  in  the  judi- 
cious expenditure  of  the  funds,  but 
no  moneys  shall  be  paid  out  without 
the  concurrence  of  the  pastors  and 
custodians  of  the  funds  on  the  two 
charges  nearest  or  most  convenient 
'o  the  place  where  it  is  proposed  to  ex- 
Fend  the  said  funds;  except  such  ex- 
penses as  may  be  incurred  for  print- 
ing, stationery,  etc.,  which  shall  be 
raid  by  the  Presiding  Elder  out  of 
any  frn-^s  in  his  hands.  The  Presid- 
ing Elder  shall  report  annually  to 
each  Local  Compact,  during  the 
month  of  September  of  October,  giv- 
ing a  full  account  of  the  work  done, 
and  also  of  all  moneys  received  and 
expended.  He  shall  also  give  his  re- 
ceipt to  each  pastor  before  the  ses- 
sion of  the  Annual  Conference  for 
the  amount  received  from  the  charge. 

By  signing  this  Agreement  and 
paying  one  dollar  per  year,  you  be- 
come one  of  us. 

I  forwarded  a  copy  of  this  Agree- 
ment to  Dr.  Arthur  Edwards,  editor 
of  the  Northwestern  Christian  Advo- 
cate at  Chicago,  who  strongly  com- 
mended it.  The  "Northwestern"  had 
this  to  say  of  it: 

The  Forum  for  February  has  a 
suggestive  article  about  "The  Farm- 
er's Changed  Condition."  The  author, 
who  happens  to  be  our  personal 
friend,  Mr.  Rodney  C.  Welch  of  this 
city,  says  that  New  England  farmers 
desert  their  farms  because  the  latter 
are  no  longer  remunerative,  whereas 
farmers  in  Wisconsin,  Iowa,  Illinois 
and  other  states  move  into  town  be- 
cause the  rent  of  their  farms  is 
enough  to  support  them  in  towns  in 
which  they  can  the  better  educate 
their  children.  He  says  that  in  these 
states  the  actual  occupants  of  farms 
are  coming  to  be,  as  in  parts  of 
Europe,  a  distinct  peasant  class,  that 
the  English  languare  is  seldom  heard 
outside  the  large  towns,  and  that  in 


THE  SIMPLE   LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


Kil 


the  country  church  services  and  in- 
struction in  schools  are  in  foreign 
tongues.  It  is  certain  that  this  testi- 
mony concerning  the  inrush  of  for- 
eigners is  confirmed  in  some  of  our 
Methodist  Conferences  in  the  north- 
west. Rev.  H.  H.  Green,  who  is  in 
charge  of  the  Decorah  District,  Upper 
Iowa  Conference,  thus  alludes  to  the 
change  now  in  process: 

The  inclosed  paper,  contains,  as  I 
trust,  a  partial  solution  of  a  perplex- 
ing problem  with  which  we  are  con- 
fronted. Methodism  in  many  places 
is  very  weak,  especially  in  the  river 
counties.  Our  people  have  sold  out, 
and  German  Lutherans  and  Roman 
Catholics  have  bought  in.  In  several 
places  our  churches  have  been  aban- 
doned, while  in  others  our  members 
are  few  in  numbers  and  widely  scat- 
tered. These  weak  places  must  be 
strengthened  immed'ately  or  given 
up.  Then,  too,  some  places  almost 
wholly  German  are  asking  for  the 
gospel  in  the  English  language,  and 
are  willing  to  help  support  Metho- 
dist preaching.  This  demand  comes 
chiefly  from  the  children  of  foreign- 
born  citizens,  who  are  not  in  sym- 
pathy with  the  religious  views  and 
methods  of  their  parents.  These 
young  people  must  be  cared  for  soon, 
or  they  will  go  to  the  bad  and  carry 
our  American  young  people  with 
them. 

Mr.  Green  incloses  a  copy  of  an 
agreement  to  which  he  seeks  to  at- 
tach the  names  of  .5  00  women  in  his 
district  who  will  pledge  a  definite 
sum  each,  for  work  to  reoccupy  waste 
places  of  Iowa  Methodism.  The 
money  will  be  used  to  support 
preaching  at  points  where  there  are 
no  services  in  the  English  tongue, 
and  to  purchase  a  large  tent  for  sum- 
mer use  in  neglected  places  in  which 
worship  may  be  conducted  by  earn- 
est men.  A  tent  has  already  been 
bought,  and  there  now  is  seai-ch  for 
just  the  right  man  to  preach  in  it. 
We  shall  hope  for  much  from  this 
effort  in  that  aggressive  district.  If 
we  expect  to  push  our  mission  work 
in  foreign  countries  in  which  we 
sometimes  are  scarcely  welcome, 
how  much  more  ought  we  to  urge 
our  message  among  peoples  right  at 
our  doors.     We  must  not  hesitate  to 


occupy  the  beautiful  hills  of  Iowa 
when  we  are  forming  lines  of  ass:iult 
on  the  mountain  tops  of  China 
and  India.  We  believe  in  this  brave 
attempt  on  the  banks  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, and  are  sure  that  the  whole 
church  will  hail  the  dutiful  cam- 
paign. 

One  of  the  first  fruits  of  this  effort 
was  the  re-purchase  of  a  church  at 
Fort  Atkinson,  which  had  been  built 
by  the  Methodists  of  that  place,  and 
afterwards  sold  to  the  Baptists,  who 
were  able  to  maintain  services  in  it 
for  a  few  years,  but  had  finally  been 
so  weakened  by  the  same  cause  which 
had  operated  against  the  Methodists, 
that  the  church  had  been  closed. 
There  remained  a  few  of  our  people 
at  the  Fort,  who  had  escaped  the 
exodus,  among  them  being  a  physi- 
cian named  Fallows,  a  brother  of 
Bishop  Fallows  of  the  Reformed 
Episcopal  church,  also  a  Mr.  Sum- 
mers, who  owned  and  operated  a 
hotel  there.  These  gentlemen  with 
their  families  were  about  all  that 
were  left  to  us.  It  was  not  long 
after  we  had  obtained  possession  of 
the  church  and  had  established  reg- 
ular religious  services  there  that  Dr. 
Fallows,  much  to  our  regret,  moved 
from  the  town  with  his  family, 
which  was  a  great  loss  to  us.  The 
Fort  was  attached  to  Calmar  circuit, 
and  has  remained  as  one  of  its  ap- 
pointments to  the  present  time. 

As  soon  as  practical  I  secured  the 
appointment  of  the  Rev.  F.  H.  Linn, 
and  instituted  services  at  Guttenberg, 
among  a  people  almost  wholly  Ger- 
man. I  was  told  that  no  sermon  had 
ever  been  preached  in  that  town  in 
the  English  language,  also  that  the 
outcome  of  my  attempt  would  be 
very  doubtful.  Undismayed  In  the 
face  of  discouragement  however,  Mr. 
Linn  and  his  wife  began  their  diffi- 
cult  task    and   prosecuted    it   in    the 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


spirit  of  tile  Master.  Tliey  rented 
two  small  rooms  in  the  rear  of  a 
saloon  building,  which  they  occupied 
as  a  temporary  home.  For  a  church 
they  secured  a  long  room  connected 
with  the  same  building,  which  had 
been  used  as  a  dance  hall.  It  was 
in  that  hall  that  I  conducted  the  first 
Quarterly  Meeting  ever  held  in  Gut- 
tenberg.  I  had  suggested  before 
opening  the  work  there  that  it  might 
be  well  to  secure  a  preacher  who 
would  be  able  to  speak  in  German  as 
well  as  in  English,  but  the  sugges- 
tion met  with  no  favor.  An  Ameri- 
can physician  whose  wife  was  a 
member  of  the  Congregational 
church,  and  our  chief  support  at 
first,  strongly  advised  against  my 
sending  them  a  German  preacher,  or 
conducting  services  in  that  language. 
He  said  we  could  only  hope  for  suc- 
cess among  the  younger  element,  and 
they  had  all  the  German  they  wanted 
already.  They  proposed  to  be  Ameri- 
cans, not  Germans,  and  would  at- 
tend Methodist  preaching  in  the  Eng- 
lish language  only,  a  view  which  I 
found  to  be  entirely  correct. 

During  the  second  year  of  Mr. 
Linn's  pastorate  an  eligible  site  was 
secured  and  a  nice  little  church 
erected.  Rev.  Linn  was  succeeded  at 
the  end  of  his  second  year  by  C.  A. 
Parkin,  an  energetic  young  man,  who 
had  been  a  clerk  in  the  store  of  Mar- 
shall Field  in  Chicago,  but  feeling 
himself  called  to  the  ministry,  had, 
through  a  mutual  friend,  applied  to 
me  for  work  in  Iowa  and  had  come 
direct  from  his  clerkship.  During 
his  pastorate,  a  parsonage  was  built 
on  a  lot  adjoining  that  on  w^hich  the 
church  stood,  giving  us  a  fairly  good 
hold  on  Guttenberg,  which  has  been 
maintained  to  the  present  time. 

In  the  spring  of  1893  I  was  hon- 


ored with  the  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Divinity,  which  was  conferred  upon 
me  by  the  Iowa  Wesleyan  University, 
and  the  University  of  the  Northwest, 
now  ]\Iorningside  College. 

It  was  during  that  summer  that 
my  wife  and  I  visited  the  great 
World's  Fair  at  Chicago,  accompan- 
ied by  the  Rev.  L.  N.  Green,  a 
preacher  on  the  district  and  his  wife. 
It  was  a  wonderful  show,  and  was  to 
us  a  constant  delight.  A  marvelous 
advance  it  was  over  the  Crystal 
Palace  I  had  seen  when  a  boy  in 
London,  forty-two  years  before. 
Nothing  could  have  more  clearly 
marked  the  advance  the  world  had 
made  in  the  arts,  sciences,  commerce 
and  in  all  material  fields  of  endeavor 
than  the  great  exhibition  of  1893. 
Truly  we  are  living  in  an  age  of 
revelations,  wherein  the  most  amaz- 
ing strides  succeed  each  other  with 
bewildering  rapidity.  The  memory 
of  our  visit  to  the  Columbian  Expo- 
sition will  remain  with  us,  cherished 
as  one  of  the  most  delightful  experi- 
ences of  our  lives.  It  was  there  in 
the  Transportation  building  that  I 
met  my  cousin,  George  Green,  of 
whose  existence  I  was  ignorant  but 
a  month  previous.  His  father,  my 
uncle  David  had  come  with  his  fam- 
ily to  the  United  States  in  1851,  and 
had  settled  in  Ohio.  I  had  not  known 
of  this  and  was  of  course  surprised 
when  I  learned  of  it  through  an  ac- 
quaintance of  both  families,  a  resi- 
dent of  Lyons,  who  had  been  visiting 
some  friends  in  Troy,  Ohio,  where 
my  cousin  was  living.  George  and 
two  of  his  brothers  had  been  in  the 
army,  members  of  an  Ohio  regiment. 
One  of  them  was  killed  at  the  battle 
of  Resaca,  George  had  lost  a  leg  in 
another  engagement,  and  the  other 
returned  to  Ohio  at  the  close  of  the 


THE   SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


l(i3 


war  and  at  the  time  of  the  exposi- 
tion was  living  at  Dayton  in  that 
state. 

By  this  time  the  members  of  our 
family  had  nearly  all  departed  from 
under  the  old  roof  tree  to  shift  for 
themselves.  Anna  was  married  and 
was  living  at  Janesville,  where  her 
husband  was  engaged  in  the  drug 
business.  Samuel  was  at  Grand  Junc- 
tion, and  Schuyler  at  Waukon,  both 
of  them  clerks  in  drug  stores.  Iowa 
and  Lucy  were  in  Colorado,  and 
Harry  was  a  student  in  Upper  Iowa 
University,  from  which  he  afterward 
graduated  with  honor,  leaving  only 
Marion   at   home. 

On  the  24th  of  October,  1894,  our 
daughter,  Iowa,  who  had  returned 
from  Colorado,  was  married  at  our 
home  in  Decorah,  to  Mr.  Edward 
Lincoln  Jennings,  youngest  son  of 
Mr.  Samuel  Jennings  of  Janesville, 
Iowa. 

On  the  2  5th  of  May,  189  5,  the 
wedding  of  our  second  son,  Schuyler, 
and  Miss  Maude  Hurlburt,  daughter 
of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Celia  Hurlburt  of 
Marion,  Iowa,  was  solemnized  at  the 
home  of  Mrs.  Hurlburt  in  that  city. 
The  ceremony  was  conducted  by  the 
writer,  assisted  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hurl- 
burt, now  pastor  of  the  Delaware 
avenue  Methodist  Episcopal  church 
of  Buffalo,  New  York. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 
During  the  winter  of  1895,  feeling 
the  need  of  some  relaxation  from  my 
arduous  toil,  I  spent  a  few  weeks  in 
Florida  with  my  sister,  Mrs.  Messmer 
and  her  husband.  I  had  not  been 
in  the  south  since  the  close  of  the 
war  and  was  therefore  unacquainted 
with  the  changes  that  had  taken 
place  during  the  intervening  years, 
except  so  far  as  I  had  learned  of 
them   through   the   papers   and   from 


people  who  had  some  knowledge  of 
them. 

Leaving  Decorah  with  two  of  my 
friends,  who,  like  myself,  were  head- 
ed for  the  south,  we  proceeded  to 
St.  Louis,  ana  from  there  via  Louis- 
ville and  Nashville  to  Atlanta  and  to 
Montgomery,  the  birthplace  of  the 
rebellion.  My  friends  had  left  the 
train  at  Atlanta,  so  I  proceeded  alone 
to  Jacksonville,  and  from  there  to 
Cisco,  where  my  relatives  had  made 
their  home. 

I  was  heartily  welcomed  by  my 
sister  and  her  husband,  who  gave  me 
to  understand  that  I  was  there  to 
enjoy  myself  and  was  to  make  the 
most  of  my  sojourn  in  the  south, 
which  I  proceeded  to  do  at  once. 

The  climate  was  magnificent,  flow- 
ers in  bloom  on  every  hand,  the  air 
vocal  with  the  songs  of  birds  and 
the  melodies  of  the  negroes.  This  was 
summer  in  mid-winter.  Transplaned 
in  just  a  few  hours  from  the  frosts, 
snows  and  wintry  blasts  of  the 
north,  where  dearth  and  death  were 
everywhere  rife,  chilling  the  very 
pith  "in  your  body,  to  the  glorious 
sunshine  of  that  semi-tropic  clime, 
is  indeed  a  grateful  migration  in  the 
month  of  February.  Also  it  is  an 
impressive  suggestion  of  that  resur- 
rection, which  shall  overtake  these 
perishing  bodies  of  ours,  when  they 
that  are  in  the  grave  shall  hear  His 
voice  and  come  forth,  "Changed  and 
fashioned  like  unto  His  own  glorious 
body." 

St.  Augustine,  touched  by  the 
fingers  of  time,  where  the  old  has 
not  yet  been  supplanted  by  the  new, 
said  to  be  the  oldest  city  in  the 
United  States,  is  surely  a  place  of 
antiquities.  The  site  of  which  Ponce 
de  Leon  visited  in  1512,  in  search  of 
the  fabled  "Fountain  of  Youth,"  was 
permanently    settled    by   Don     Pedro 


164 


THE  SIMPLE   LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


Menendez  de  Olles  some  fifty  years 
later,  who  with  1,500  followers  took 
possession  of  the  country  in  the  name 
of  his  soverign.  King  Philip  II.  of 
Spain.  Here  stands  old  Fort  Marion, 
at  the  present  time  little  more  than 
a  mass  of  ruins.  It  was  at  first  call- 
ed by  the  Spaniards,  the  Castle  of 
St.  Mark,  and  was  upward  of  one 
hundred  years  in  construction.  Here 
too,  is  the  old  sea  wall  built  of 
coquina  as  early  as  1690.  Yonder 
may  be  seen  the  oldest  church  in 
the  United  States,  which  had  been 
partly  burned  just  before  I  saw  it, 
and  from  the  ruins  I  picked  up  a 
large  spike  of  wrought  iron,  which 
they  told  me  had  been  made  in  Spain 
over  300  years  before,  which  was 
doubtless  true.  I  have  it  yet,  though 
I  cannot  say  that  it  possesses 
any  saintly  qualities,  nor  do  I  know 
that  any  such  claims  are  made  for 
these  ancient  relics  by  the  present 
population  of  the  town. 

The  oldest  house  in  the  United 
States  stands  on  a  narrow  street  two 
blocks  west  of  the  river.  It  was  built 
in  1562.  It  has  been  described  as  a 
"bit  of  the  sixteenth  century  carried 
over  into  the  twentieth.  The  house 
was  built  by  French  Huguenot  im- 
migrants, who  came  to  a  new  world 
to  seek  religious  peace  they  could 
not  find  at  home.  While  they  were 
rearing  its  walls  of  sea  shells  and 
mortar,  Michael  Angelo  was  building 
the  famous  dome  of  St.  Peter's  in 
Rome.  Back  across  the  Atlantic  the 
forefathers  of  Washington  and  Lin- 
coln were  living  in  England,  unmind- 
ful of  the  unborn  descendants  who 
were  to  make  their  name  imperish- 
ably   illustrious." 

Passing  down  the  narrowest  street 
in  the  country  and  crossing  the 
Matanzas  river  on  the  big  bridge,  we 
found  ourselves  on  Anastasia  Island, 


where,  after  visiting  the  government 
light  house,  we  made  our  way  down 
to  the  water  and  waded  out — -not 
very  far — into  the  Atlantic  Ocean, 
where  we  gathered  shells  and  things 
to   our  hearts  content. 

Returning  to  St.  Augustine,  we 
explored  the  great  Ponce  de  Leon 
hotel,  prying  into  the  numerous 
places  of  interest  and  taking  in 
everything  that  might  appeal  to  our 
curiosity. 

By  this  time  it  was  evening,  so  my 
brother-in-law  said:  "Let  us  go  over 
to  the  Alcazar;  there  is  going  to  be 
a  cake-dance  by  a  lot  of  negroes, 
which  you  will  enjoy  seeing,  I 
think."  The  cake-dance  was  pro- 
nounced good,  and  I  presume  it  was. 
Some  of  the  negroes  assumed  airs 
supposed  to  be  befitting  a  grand  duke 
and  his  grand  duchess,  and  the  most 
"airy"  took  the  cake. 

Before  going  south  I  had  been 
reading  in  one  of  the  magazines 
about  a  trip  up  the  Ockiawaha  river 
made  by  some  tourists  from  the 
north,  which  had  interested  me  and 
given  me  a  desire  to  make  the  same 
trip,  so  one  day,  my  brother-in-law, 
Mr.  Joseph  Messmer  and  I  went 
down  to  Palatka  from  Cisco,  and 
engaged  passage  on  the  steamer 
Okehumpkee  which  plied  the  river 
at  that  time.  A  run  of  twenty-five 
miles  up  the  St.  John's  brings  you 
to  the  Ockiawaha,  which  you  enter 
at  its  mouth  and  slowly  push  your 
way  up  stream.  The  water  appears 
black  as  ink.  The  river  is  quite 
deep  and  very  narrow,  in  some  places 
only  just  wide  enough  for  the  pas- 
sage of  the  boat.  It  actually  rubs 
the  banks  on  both  sides,  while  the 
passengers  need  to  be  careful  lest 
they  are  brushed  from  the  deck  by 
the  overhanging  branches  which 
sweep  it  from  either  side.     The  Ok- 


THE   SIMPLE   LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


l(ir> 


ehumpkee  is  a  stern-wheeler,  strong- 
ly built.  She  has  no  center-board, 
and  her  wheel  is  protected  in  such 
a  way  as  to  enable  her  to  ride  over 
logs,  branches  of  trees  and  whatever 
other  obstructions  might  be  found 
in  the  river,  without  the  slightest 
danger  from  accident  or  injury. 

The  country  adjacent  to  the  river 
as  I  saw  it  was  low-lying,  mostly 
covered  with  timber,  with  only  here 
and  there  a  few  miles  of  higher  hum- 
mock land.  Noticing  a  stretch  of 
this  open  country  off  to  our  right,  I 
inquired  of  a  native  by  whose  side 
I  was  seated,  if  there  was  any  game 
in  the  vicinity.  "O,  yes,  sah,"  he 
replied,  plenty  of  game  sah,  mostly 
beah  and  deah,  but  they  don't  do 
much   shooting  down  heah." 

A  little  further  on  our  boat  pulled 
up  at  a  primitive  landing  where  a 
few  of  the  crackers  were  gathered 
to  see  us  come  in.  I  happened  to  be 
seated  near  the  bow  of  the  boat 
watching  an  ungainly,  sickly  homo, 
a  mere  boy  in  appearance,  but  prob- 
ably much  younger  than  he  looked. 
His  pale,  putty  face  carried  a  deathly 
aspect;  his  mouth  was  filled  with 
tobacco,  from  which  little  yellow  riv- 
ulets were  meandering  down  from 
its  sides,  ad  libitum  ad  nauseum;  his 
unkept  hair  hung  about  his  head,  a 
tangled  mass  of  faded  yellow  strands 
jumbled  together  in  confusion  looked 
as  though  it  had  never  known  the 
use  of  a  brush  or  a  comb,  and  might 
have  been  designed  as  a  covert  for 
ithe  uncanny  creeping  things  w^hich 
are  said  to  inhabit  the  southern 
swamp.  There  he  stood,  with  his 
feet  wide  apart  and  his  hands  thrust 
down  deep  into  his  trouser  pockets, 
as  though  he  would  fain  bury  them 
out  of  sight,  his  eyes  fixed  upon  us 
with  benumbed,  dejected,  disappoint- 
ed, stupifled  look,  which  I  have  never 


been  able  to  efface  from  my  memory. 

"What  is  the  matter  with  that  fel- 
low?" said  a  voice  behind  me,  and 
turning  around  I  immediately  recog- 
nized Mr.  Robert  M.  La  Follette  of 
Wisconsin,  at  that  time  a  member  of 
congress,  and  at  present  United 
States  Senator  from  the  Badger 
state. 

"Why,"  I  replied,  I  would  think 
it  might  be  due  to  malaria  and  to- 
bacco. He  looks  as  though  he  might 
be  the  subject  of  one  and  a  devotee 
of  the  other." 

"Yes,"  he  remarked,  "it  certainly 
looks  like  it;  life  must  be  a  grue- 
some thing  in  these  swamps;  poor 
fellow,  he  hasn't  much  chance  here." 

"You  are  Mr.  La  Follette,  are  you 
not?"  I  inquired. 

"That's  my  name.  Where  have  I 
met  you?"   he  asked. 

Then  I  told  him  that  I  had  heard 
him  in  a  political  speech  at  Manches- 
ter, Iowa  not  long  before,  and  called 
his  attention  to  an  interruption  that 
had  occurred  in  the  meeting.  Uncle 
Henry  Barr,  an  old  fashioned  Irish 
Methodist,  (since  deceased)  who  was 
present  was  greatly  pleased  with 
something  Mr.  La  Follette  had  said, 
and  in  his  quick,  impulsive  way, 
shouted,  "Amen."  The  speaker,  not 
catching  what  he  said,  turned  toward 
the  old  man  with  an  inquiring  ex- 
pression upon  his  face  and  said, 
"eh?" 

"Oi  said  Amin,"  uncle  Henry 
answered  with  a  pleased  look. 

"Oh."  And  the  speech  was  con- 
tinued as  though  nothing  had  occur- 
red to  interrupt  it. 

"I  remember  it  quite  well,"  Mr. 
Lafollette  said,  "I  thought  at  first  it 
was  a  democrat  who  wanted  to  con- 
fuse me." 

A  few  miles  further  up  the  river 


16() 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


we  were  given  an  opportunity  to  be- 
come acquainted  with  thfe  postal  fa- 
cilities enjoyed  by  the  residents  along 
the  river.  As  our  boat  approached  a 
shiall  landing,  a  little  stir  caused  me 
to  look  up,  when  I  saw  one  of  the 
hands  tying  two  or  three  letters  and 
a  paper  or  two  to  the  end  of  a  long 
pole  all  ready  for  delivery.  As  we 
passed  without  stopping  at  the  land- 
ing, the  pole  was  swung  out  over  the 
side  of  the  boat,  the  mail  was  seized 
by  a  man  who  was  standing  ready, 
and  deftly  placed  another  little 
bunch  on  the  end  of  the  pole  in  place 
of  that  he  had  removed  as  we  slowly 
passed  by.  That  was  rural  delivery 
in  embryo. 

At  the  head  of  the  Ocklawaha  is 
the  magnificent  Silver  Spring,  nine 
miles  long,  its  water  a  beautiful 
blue,  and  so  transparent  that  you  can 
easily  see  the  fish  sporting  about  at 
a  distance  of  80  feet  below  you. 

The  heavy  frosts  of  the  preceding 
winter  had  practically  destroyed  the 
orange  groves  of  the  peninsula, 
which  was  so  severe  a  blow  as  to  ut- 
terly ruin  tne  orange  growers  in  the 
northern  part  of  the  state.  These 
people  became  so  discouraged  that 
many  of  them  left  Florida,  returning 
to  their  old  homes,  and  other  parts 
of  the  north.  There  seemed  to  be 
little  hope  for  the  future;  it  was  like 
the  aggression  of  the  potato  bug  in 
Colorado,  and  the  invasion  of  north- 
western Iowa  by  the  grasshoppers  at 
an  early  day.  It  was  disheartening, 
but  only  a  temporary  set-back.  The 
country  has  long  since  entirely  re- 
covered and  the  people  are  full  of 
hope  for  the  future  of  their  state. 

I  returned  home  by  the  same  route 
I  had  taken  in  going  down,  and,  as 
it  was  night  when  we  passed  through 
southern  Georgia,  I  could  see  noth- 
ing of  the   country,   but  in   returning 


we  were  favored  with  daylight  and 
the  weather  being  clear  and  pleas- 
ant, I  had  a  fine  opportunity  to  see 
the  country,  which  I  improved  to  the 
utmost.  "Way  Down  Upon  the  Suwa- 
nee  River,"  I  hummed  over  to  myself 
as  we  crossed  a  deep  and  narrow 
stream,  which  I  was  told  was  the 
river  celebrated  in  the  negro  song; 
but  for  the  life  of  me  I  could  see 
nothing  in  that  black  sluggish  water 
to  inspire  a  poet  or  to  cause  a  desire 
in  any  breast  to  return  to  it  after 
once  getting  away.  The  country  all 
through  that  section  was  covered 
with  orchards  of  pear  trees,  any- 
where from  half  an  acre  to  two  hun- 
dred acres  or  more  could  be  seen  on 
either  side  of  the  railroad.  Unques- 
tionably this  is  the  great  pear  belt 
of  the  United  States.  Of  course  these 
orchards  are  planted  and  cultivated 
by  negro  labor,  which,  a  few  years 
ago,  was  comparatively  inexpensive. 
I  was  amused  to  note  the  colored 
children,  so  numerous  all  along  the 
railroad,  living  in  little  rough  wood- 
en huts  or  rude  cabins  raised  two 
or  three  feet  from  the  ground,  to 
let  the  air  pass  under  them.  These 
pickanninies,  clothed  only  with  a  sin- 
gle garment  of  colored  calico,  that 
failed  to  cover  the  knees,  would 
creep  out  from  under  the  cabins  like 
a  litter  of  little  black  pigs,  or  peep 
around  the  corner  of  the  she.d,  grinr 
ning  at  us  with  eyes  and  mouths 
wide  open,  showing,  the  whitest  of 
teeth  and  the  merriest  .faces,  queer 
little  things,  from  the  baby  on  up  to 
the  first  born  of  the  family.  And 
what  families  there  were,  from  the 
smallest,  consisting  of  not  more  than 
two  or  three,  to  the  largest  in  view, 
which  were  too  numerous  to  count 
as  we  raced  past  on  our  way  to 
yankee  land.  Indeed  in  some  in- 
stances it  was  almost  impossible  to 
say   whether   you   were   looking   at   a 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


107 


private  family  or  a  STinday  Fchoal 
picnic,  only  there  were  no  grown-up 
people  in  sight. 

At  Waycross  there  was  a  gang  of 
negro  convicts  with  chains  about 
their  limbs,  at  work  on  the  road  un- 
der a  guard,  who  saw  that  they  wast- 
ed no  time  in  idleness.  Practically, 
they  were  slaves,  who,  under  a  sys- 
tem of  peonage,  had  been  hi^'-'d  out 
by  their  creditors  to  the  city,  to  do 
work  for  the  corporation.  My  sym- 
pathies were  aroused  at  the  sight  of 
these  men,  who,  in  a  boasted  land 
of  freedom,  were  still  wearing  the 
shackles  of  bondage  according  to 
law.  But  as  we  were  unable  to 
change  these  conditions,  we  passed 
on  and  in  due  time  arrived  at  Nash- 
ville, where  I  left  the  main  line  and 
proceded  on  my  way  to  Clarksville, 
spending  a  night  in  that  city.  Upon 
inquiry,  I  was  told  that  on  the  fol- 
lowing day  a  steamer  would  leave 
Clarksville  for  down  river,  so  I  en- 
gaged passage  for  Dover,  which,  af- 
ter a  delightful  run  I  reached  in  the 
early  evening. 

My  purpose  in  making  this  diver- 
sion was  to  look  over  the  old  battle- 
field of  Fort  Donelson,  which  was 
close  by  Dover.  So,  upon  landing  I 
proceded  at  once  to  an  old  hotel  near 
the  river,  determined  to  enjoy  a 
day  or  two  at  that  historic  place 
which  held  so  deep  an  interest  for 
me.  At  Clarksville  I  had  obtained 
a  letter  of  introduction  to  a  Dr. 
Steger  of  Dover,  whom  I  met  soon 
after  reaching  there.  I  found  in  the 
doctor  a  very  pleasant  gentleman, 
who  took  special  pains  to  make 
things  pleasant  for  me. 

The  first  time  I  went  to  the  table 
at  the  hotel,  the  proprietor,  whose 
father  was  managing  it  at  the  time 
of  the  battle,  said  to  me;  "Now  I 
will  seat  you  at  the  exact  spot  where 


General  Grant  sat  when  he  received 
from  General  Buckner  the  surrender 
of  Fort  Donelson." 

"Thank  you;  you  are  very  kind," 
I  replied,  "and  now  I  will  surrender 
myself  to  these  good  things  you  have 
set  before  me,  which  I  am  sure  must 
be  far  more  palatable  than  those 
upon  which  Grant  and  Buckner  fed 
when  they   were  here." 

Reference  to  this  visit  to  the  old 
battlefield,  which  I  copy  from  the 
Decorah  Republican,  contains  all 
that  need  be  said  touching  the  mat- 
ter of  that  visit: 

"When  Dr.  Green  returned  home, 
in  referring  to  his  visit  to  the  Don- 
elson battlefield,  he  spoke  in  the 
warmest  terms  of  the  unexpected 
kindness  and  courtesy  of  a  gentle- 
man named  Steger,  the  editor  of  the 
local  paper.  This  gentleman  was  a 
surgeon  in  the  rebel  army,  and  to- 
gether Dr.  Green  and  he  rambled 
over  the  field  and  picked  out  the 
spots  where  the  battle  raged  the  hot- 
est.  In  speaking  of  Mr.  Steger's  cour- 
tesy he  remarks  that  a  brother  could 
not  have  been  more  kind  or  more 
hospitable.  Not  only  was  he  in  the 
rebel  army,  but  he  has  remained  on 
the  spot,  and  the  Elder  regards  it 
great  good  fortune  that  he  fell  into 
the   hands   of  so   competent   a   guide. 

Now  comes  a  copy  of  the  Stewart' 
Courier,  published  at  Dover,  by  Dr. 
Steeer,   which  says  this  of  his  visit: 

"We  had  the  pleasure  last  week 
of  forming  the  acquaintance  of  Capt. 
H.  H.  Green  of  Decorah,  Iowa,  an  old 
federal  veteran,  who,  for  the  first 
time  since  the  battle  of  Fort  Donel- 
son, visited  this  old  battleground, 
an-l  even  after  the  lapse  of  time  and 
changes  consenuent  thereto,  he  rec- 
oa:nized  the  point  at  which  he  charg- 
ed through  the  Confederate  lines 
with  his  regiment.  We  believe  it 
was  the  2nd  Iowa — (Col.  Tuttle  of 
this  regiment,  and  others),  who 
drove  Col.  Hansen  and  his  brave 
Kentuckians  from  the  entrenchment 
on  the  extreme  right  of  the  Rebel 
line.  Gen.  Buckner  was  away  with 
all  of  his  command,  except  three 
regiments.       which       were      in      the 


168 


THE   SIMPLE   LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


trenches  from  Indian  to  Hickman 
creeks,  a  distance  of  a  mile  and  a 
half.  Where  Col.  Hansen  was,  the 
earth  works  are  detached — leaving 
in  some  places  along  the  line  a  dis- 
tance of  a   hundred   feet. 

The  Captain  at  the  time  of  the 
battle  was  a  sergeant  in  his  com- 
pany and  afterwards  was  promoted 
to  the  captaincy,  and  since  the  war 
to  the  position  of  Presiding  Elder  in 
the   M.    E.    church. 

We  obtained  several  nice  hickory 
walking  sticks  on  the  battlefield,  and 
visited  the  water  battery,  getting  up 
at  various  places,  souvenirs  of  this 
historic  conflict.  He  told  us  of  a 
funny  incident  that  happened  while 
the  battle  was  hottest.  After  getting 
through  the  Rebel  lines  his  company 
fell  back  from  an  exposed  position 
and  he  undertook  to  assist  a  wound- 
ed comrade.  It  soon  became  uncom- 
fortable, and  in  double-quickening 
back  to  his  company,  he  got  under 
such  a  headway,  that  he  failed  to 
halt  in  line  and  passed  on  to  the 
rear.  There,  after  becoming  a 
little  composed,  he  examined  himself 
and  found  he  had  nine  bullet  holes 
through  his  clothes,  one  of  which 
was  through  his  cap.  Several  of  his 
comrades  rest  in  our  cemetery.  We 
find  brother  Green  quite  companion- 
able indeed,  and  hope  he  will  renew 
his  visit.  We  know  of  but  one  man 
we  would  not  show  like  courtesy, 
and  that  is  Commander  W^alker.' 

The  comrade  referred  to  in  this 
incident  was  hit  a  second  time  and 
killed  by  a  bullet  in  the  brain  while 
in  the  arms  oi  Dr.  G.  He  abandoned 
him  only  after  seeing  the  second 
wound,  which  had  cut  the  sleeve  of 
Dr.  Green's  coat,  was  a  fatal  one. 
Then  the  Elder  admits  he  did  run 
as  he  never  ran  before." 

At  the  expiration  of  my  term  of 
service  as  Presiding  Elder  of  Decorah 
District,  I  was  appointed  pastor  at 
Iowa  Falls.  It  was  not  an  unwel- 
come change,  for  after  twelve  con- 
secutive years  in  district  work  I  be- 
gan to  feel  the  need  of  a  rest  from 
the  strain  which  it  imposed,  espe- 
cially as  Decorah  District  during 
those    years    had    been    very    difficult 


to  serve,  owing  to  the  want  of  facil- 
ities for  reaching  many  points  which 
were  distant   from  the  railroad. 

We  were  kindly  received  by  the 
people  at  Iowa  Falls,  who  from  the 
first  made  us  feel  that  we  had  fallen 
amcng  friends.  I  felt  quite  a  little 
timidity  over  the  prospect  of  resum- 
ing the  work  of  a  pastor,  having 
been  out  of  it  so  long,  but  this  feel- 
ing soon  wore  off,  due,  I  am  sure,  to 
the  help  given  by  the  preacher's  wife 
who  cheerfully  assumed  many  bur- 
dens, which  in  the  past  she  had  been 
unable  to  do  on  account  of  the  caroo 
of  the  family.  She  was  to  me  a  tower 
of  strength  and  a  helpmeet  indeed. 
I  really  do  not  know  what  I  would 
have  done  without  her  when  it  came 
to  calling  upon  the  people,  and  vis- 
iting them  at  their  homes.  I  used 
to  think  she  was  sometimes  over- 
doing it,  for  she  would  drag  me  out 
every  afternoon,  rain  or  shine  and 
would  listen  to  no  excuses,  however 
urgently  I  might  plead  to  be  let  off 
for  just  one  day.  I  had  to  go  wheth- 
er or  no,  nor  did  it  take  long  to 
find  out  that  she  had  the  sympathies 
of  the  people,  who  seemed  to  enjoy 
her  calls,  and  who  made  much  of  her 
in  many  ways.  It  is  no  wonder, 
therefore,  that  she  became  very  pop- 
ular, and  was  the  means  of  accomp- 
lishing much  good. 

It  was  during  our  second  year  at 
Iowa  Falls,  that  the  marriage  of  our 
daughter,  Lucy,  and  also  of  our  son, 
Harry,  were  celebrated.  Lucy,  who 
had  remained  in  Colorado,  returned 
to  Iowa  during  the  summer  of  1898, 
for  a  brief  stay,  and  on  July  7th  of 
that  year  she  was  married  at  the 
parsonage,  to  Mr.  Guy  V.  Johnson,  a 
merchant  of  Evanston,  Wyoming,  a 
gentleman  well  known  for  his  many 
generous  qualities. 

Harry,  who,  after  leaving  the  Uni- 


THE   SIMPLE   LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


Ki 


verslty  at  Fayette,  had  purchased  a 
half  interest  in  the  Public  Opinion, 
a  newspaper  which  had  just  been 
established  at  Decorah,  was  married 
August  ijrd,  to  Miss  Alice  A.  Tracy, 
at  the  home  of  her  parents  in  De- 
corah. We  all  attended  the  wedding, 
and  I  performed  the  ceremony  as- 
sisted by  the  Rev.  A.  Lincoln  Shute 
of  Chicago,  uncle  of  the  bride.  As 
a  parent  interested  in  the  career  of 
his  children,  it  will  not  be  improper 
for  me  to  add,  in  this  connection, 
that  the  Public  Opinion,  of  which 
Harry  has  for  several  years  been 
the  sole  owner  and  publisher,  has 
become  one  of  the  leading  papers  of 
northeastern  Iowa,  and  ranks  well 
up   among  the  newspaper  fraternity. 

Among  the  many  friendships  form- 
ed at  Iowa  Falls,  I  cannot  refrain 
from  mentioning  Dr.  'SI.  H.  Hill,  Mr. 
S.  P.  Smith,  Mr.  T.  F.  Rigg,  Mrs. 
Clark  and  their  families,  w^ho  with 
many  others  w^e  shall  have  occasion 
to  remember  as  long  as  we  live. 

Judge  S.  M.  Weaver,  now  Chief 
.Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  with 
whom  I  became  acquainted  while  a 
member  of  the  legislature,  was  our 
Sunday   School    Superintendent 

In  the  autumn  of  1898,  I  was  ap- 
pointed for  the  second  time  to  the 
Presiding  Eldership  of  Dubuque  Dis- 
trict, which  for  some  reasons,  was 
a  gratification  to  the  family.  Mov- 
ing to  Dubuque  immediately  after 
the  adjournment  of  Conference,  we 
soon  became  closely  associated  with 
the  Rev.  Dr.  William  A.  Shanklin, 
pastor  of  St.  Luke's  church,  who, 
with  Mrs.-  Shanklin,  has  ever  remain- 
ed among  our  most  loved  and  valued 
friends. 

Our  youngest  son,  Marion,  who 
had  entered  the  seminary  at  Ep- 
worth,  when  we  moved  to  Dubuque, 
soon    developed    an    unusual     talent 


for  vocal  music,  which  in  a  short 
time  became  so  absorbing  as  to  dom- 
inate hi,  being  and  life.  As  soon  as 
we  made  this  discovery  he  was  re- 
c?:lled  from  the  seminary  and  placed 
with  Prof.  W.  H.  Pontius,  one  of 
the  most  accomplished  instructors  in 
vocal  music  in  the  United  States, 
where  he  immediately  gave  promise 
of  that  remarkable  ability  which  has 
since  rcade  his  name  known  all  over 
the  country,  as  one  of  the  greatest 
basso    cantantas    before    the    public. 

The  district  parsonage  at  Epworth 
having  been  disposed  of,  we  made 
our  headquarters  at  Dubuque,  which 
was  much  more  convenient  for  us  in 
every    way. 

Nothing  out  of  the  ordinary  course 
of  events  occurred  during  those  six 
years  at  Dubuque.  No  less  than 
twelve  of  the  preachers  who  had 
been  with  me  before  at  different 
times,  had  been  appointed  to  charges 
on  the  district,  so  that  I  was  not 
only  familiar  with  the  churches,  but 
was  also  acquainted  with  the  preach- 
ers and  their  families.  There  was 
one,  however,  whose  absence  I  keen- 
ly felt  because  he  had  been  with  me 
during  the  entire  period  of  my  two 
previous  terms  as  Presiding  Elder: 
the  Rev.  E.  J.  Lockwood,  D.  D.,  who 
began  his  ministry  as  pastor  at  May- 
nard,  went  from  there  to  Edgewood, 
thence  to  Postville,  and  from  that 
church  to  Osage,  where  he  remained 
until  189  6,  when,  at  the  close  of  my 
term  on  the  Decorah  District,  he  was 
appointed  to  Cedar  Falls,  where  he 
made  a  fine  success.  In  the  fall  of 
1898,  he  was  transferred  to  St. 
Paul's  church-  at  Cedar  Rapids, 
where  he  still  remains  as  pastor. 

The  Rev.  R.  F.  Hurlburt,  D.  D., 
to  whom  I  have  referred  in  another 
place,  also  began  his  ministry  in  the 
Upper  Iowa  Conference.     After  grad- 


170 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


uating  at  the  Boston  Theological 
school,  I  secured  him  for  the  pas- 
torate at  Epworth,  during  my  first 
term  on  the  district.  He  served  the 
church  with  marked  ability  and  also 
a  portion  of  the  time  as  Principal 
of  Epworth  Seminary,  filling  a  va- 
cancy caused  by  the  resignation  of 
the  principal.  Dr.  Hurlburt,  after 
filling  some  of  the  prominent  pulpits 
in  the  west,  was  called  to  a  pastor- 
ate in  Buffalo,  New  York,  where  he 
has  distinguished  himself  as  one  of 
the  finest  pulpit  orators  in  the  east. 

But  to  mention  by  name  the  breth- 
ren whose  friendships  we  have  high- 
ly prized  would  include  so  large  a 
list  of  preachers,  extending  from  the 
time  of  our  entering  the  ministry  to 
the  present,  that  I  can  only  name  a 
few  with  whom  we  have  been  the 
more  intimately  associated  in  recent 
years:  Doctors  J.  W.  Bissell,  T.  E. 
Flemming,  J.  C.  Magee,  .J.  B.  Al- 
brook,  W.  F.  Pitner  and  C.  H.  Tay- 
lor, among  the  Presiding  Elders, 
with  some  of  whom  I  sat  in  the  cab- 
inet for  several  years.  Also  J.  S. 
McCord,  H.  O.  Pratt,  L.  L.  Lockard, 
B.  D.  Smith,  F.  P.  Cassidy,  A.  M. 
Mcintosh,  B.  W.  Soper,  John  Gam- 
mons and  many  others  who  are  held 
in   loving  remembrance. 

Wilson  S.  Lewis,  who  became 
Principal  of  Epworth  Seminary  dur- 
ing my  first  term  on  Dubuque  Dis- 
trict, afterward  President  of  Morn- 
ingside  College,  and  elected  a  Bishop 
at  the  General  Conference  at  Balti- 
more in  1908,  has  been,  from  our 
first  acQuaintance  with  him.  a  very 
dear  friend. 

Dr.  H.  D.  Atchison,  who  succeeded 
Dr.  Shanklin  in  the  pastorate  of  St. 
Luke's  church,  and  Mrs.  Atchison, 
we  shall  continue  to  remember  for 
their  many  beautiful  traits  of  char- 
acter, as  well  as  their  kindnesses  to 


us  personally.  The  services  at  St. 
Luke's  church  were  always  attrac- 
tive, and  the  superior  sermons 
preached  by  the  pastors,  as  well  as 
the  high  class  music  rendered  by  the 
great  choir,  mu.ch  of  the  time  one  of 
the  finest  in  the  country,  never  failed 
to  delight  the  large  audiences  which 
usually   filled   the   church. 

In  the  fall  of  1899  I  was  elected 
a  delegate  to  the  General  Conference, 
which  met  the  ensuing  spring  in 
Chicago,  holding  its  sessions  at  the 
auditorium.  In  the  assignment  of 
committees  I  was  given  Itinerancy 
and  Book  Concern,  both  of  which  ap- 
pointments pleased  me  for  I  wanted 
to  bring  some  things  to  the  atten- 
tion  of  each  of   them. 

1  engaged  a  room  at  the  Auditor- 
ium, and,  while  It  was  expensive,  it 
gave  me  an  opportunity  to  mingle 
with  the  leading  members  of  the 
body,  among  whom  were  some  of  the 
most  prominent  men  of  the  country, 
both  in  church  and  state;  I  felt  that 
this  was  due  to  my  conference  as 
well  as  myself.  With  the  exception 
of  two  or  three  afternoons  I  gave 
my  entire  time  to  the  work  of  the 
General  Conference,  taking  some 
part  in  its  deliberations. 

The  Upper  Iowa  Conference  had 
memorialized  the  superior  body 
touching  the  matter  of  supernumer- 
ary preachers.  Up  to  the  year  1900 
it  was  permissable  for  a  preacher  to 
be  placed  on  that  list — which  is  a 
provision  intended  for  the  relief  of 
temporarily  disabled  preachers — and 
be  continued  there  from  year  to  year, 
at  the  option  of  the  conference  of 
which  he  was  a  member.  Under  this 
provision  there  had  been  instances 
where  preachers  had  engaged  in  sec- 
ular work  for  years,  while  still  hold- 
ing the  relation  of  supernumerary 
preacher    in    an    Annual    Conference. 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


171 


The  Memorial  asked  that  the  law 
of  the  church  be  changed  so  as  to 
permit  a  preacher  to  hold  this  rela- 
tion for  only  five  consecutive  years, 
when  he  should  be  required  to  be- 
come effective,  which  is  the  technical 
term  for  active  service:  or  superan- 
nuate, which  means  permanent  re- 
tirement, or  withdraw  from  the  Con- 
ference. At  my  request  the  :\Ienior- 
ial  was  sent  to  the  Committee  on 
Itinerancy,  where  it  was  placed  in 
the  hands  of  a  sub-committee,  be- 
fore which  I  appeared  and  explained 
more  fully  the  purpose  of  the  Me- 
morial, after  which  it  was  reported 
to  the  full  committee  and  recom- 
mended, to  the  General  Conference 
for  passage.  In  due  time  it  was 
reported  from  committee,  adopted 
and  incorporated  into  the  Discipline 
as  one  of  the  laws  of  the  church. 

There  can  be  no  question  as  to  the 
wisdom  of  this  action,  for  it  serves 
a  good  purpose  in  checking  some 
abuses  which  have  crept  into  the 
conferences.  In  the  earlier  years  of 
our  history  it  frequently  became 
necessary  for  the  preachers  who  had 
been  assigned  to  the  weaker  charges, 
to  ask  for  the  supernumeracy  rela- 
tion for  a  year  or  two,  that  thev 
might  have  opportunity  to  earn 
something  in  some  secular  employ- 
ment for  the  support  of  their  fam- 
ilies, and  for  the  payment  of  debts, 
v;hich  had  accumulated  by  reason 
of  the  inadequate  salaries  paid  them. 
The  preachers  themselves  were  in  no 
wise  to  blame  for  the  meagreness 
of  these  "allowances,"  nor  should 
the  people  be  censured,  for  generally 
speaking,  they  were  poor  themselves 
and  had  little  to  spare.  But  the 
temptation  to  continue  as  a  super- 
numerary, extending  the  relation  in- 
definitely in  some  instances  became 
so    great   as   to   seriously   impair   the 


efficiencv  of  the  work  in  some  of 
the  newer  conferences,  where  al- 
ways great  sacrifices  are  demanded 
on  the  part  of  both  preachers  and 
people. 


CHAPTER   XXVI. 

I  had  been  deeply  impressed  in 
my  visits  among  the  churches  by 
what  I  had  believed  to  be  an  urgent 
need  for  a  new  hymnal,  which  would 
meet  the  call  of  the  times  in  the 
smaller  churches  and  country  con- 
gregations. The  Hymn  and  Tune 
book  had  been  in  use  for  nearly 
thirty  years,  and  while  it  was  un- 
questionably the  best  that  had  ever 
been  compiled  by  any  church,  and 
was  so  rated  among  competent 
judges,  it  had,  nevertheless,  outlived 
its  greatest  usefulness  in  the  small- 
er churches,  especially  in  the  west, 
and  had  been  supplanted  in  many 
of  these  churches  by  the  cheap  pro- 
ducts of  mere  rhymesters,  which  had 
become  an  offense  to  the  more  culti- 
vated minds  in  our  congregations, 
who  had  found  it  very  hard  to  endure  • 
them. 

The  Decorah  District  Conference, 
which  held  its  spring  session  a  few 
days  prior  to  the  assembling  of  the 
General  Conference,  had,  at  my  re- 
quest, passed  some  strong  resolu- 
tions favoring  a  new  Hymnal.  These 
resolutions  I  presented  to  the  Gen- 
eral Conference,  and  on  my  motion 
they  were  referred  to  the  Committee 
on  Book  Concern.  Shortly  afterward 
several  other  papers  touching  the 
same  subject  were  sent  in  from  diff- 
erent sections  of  the  country,  some 
of  which  were  referred  to  the  Com- 
mittee   on    State   of   the   Church. 

When  Upper  Iowa  was  reached  on 
the  call  of  Conferences,  I  presented 
a  resolution  calling  for  a  new  hym- 
nal, and  moved  that  it,  and  all  other 


172 


THE   SI.MPLE   LIFE   OF  A   COMMONER 


papers  upon  that  subject  be  refer- 
red to  the  Committee  on  Book  Con- 
cern, which,  after  some  discussion, 
was  agreed  to.  All  papers  having 
reference  to  the  Hymnal  were  placed 
in  the  hands  of  a  sub-committee,  of 
which  I  had  been  appointed  chair- 
man, and  that  committee,  after  faith- 
fully considering  the  matter,  formu- 
lated a  report  which  was  agreed  to 
by  the  full  Committee  on  Book  Con- 
cern, and  was  reported  through  the 
chairman.  Governor  L.  M.  Shaw,  and 
adopted  by  the  General  Conference 
with   almost   no   opposition. 

The  Board  of  Bishops  was  author- 
ized to  appoint  a  committee  to  carry 
out  the  action  of  the  General  Con- 
ference, which,  in  due  time  was 
done,  not,  however,  in  the  manner 
intended  by  that  body.  Evidently  the 
gentlemen  appointed  to  prepare  the 
new  Hymnal  misapprehended  the  de- 
sign of  the  General  Conference,  for, 
instead  of  giving  the  church  a  Hym- 
nal containing  three  or  four  hun- 
dred hymns,  available  for  use  in  the 
smaller  churches,  Sunday  schools, 
prayer  meetings,  etc.,  and  which  it 
was  hoped,  would  drive  out  the 
cheap  trash  which  had  for  years  been 
flooding  the  church  to  its  hurt,  the 
appointees  of  the  Bishops,  acting  in 
conjunction  with  a  similar  commit- 
tee from  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  Sout..,  entirely  ignored  the 
great  need  of  the  church  in  the 
country  districts,  and  in  the  face  of 
repeated  statements  from  gentlemen 
well  acquainted  with  the  intention 
of  the  General  Conference,  projected 
upon  the  church  a  book,  which, 
though  of  undoubted  quality,  was 
not  what  had  been  asked  for,  and 
was,  therefore,  something  of  a  dis- 
appointment to  all  our  people  who 
were  alive  to  the  pernicious  influence 
of  much  of  what  for  years  had  been 


supplanting  the  best  hymns  of  the 
great  religious  poets  of  our  own  and 
other  churches. 

This  feeling  was  strongly  enunci- 
ated by  Dr.  J.  M.  Buckley,  editor  of 
the  Christian  Advocate,  in  private 
correspondence,  and  also  through 
the  columns  of  his  paper.  I  had  had 
some  correspondence  with  promin- 
ent men  in  the  east,  who,  when  it 
leaked  out  what  the  probable  action 
of  the  revi.-al  committee  would  be, 
had  written  me,  inquiring  what  was 
in  the  minds  of  those  members  of 
the  General  Conference  who  had 
been  actively  engaged  in  pushing  for 
a  new  hymnal.  To  all  of  these  gen- 
tlemen I  replied,  answering  their  in- 
quiries to  the  best  of  my  ability, 
finding  at  the  same  time,  from  their 
letters,  that  they  had  understood  the 
purpose  of  the  General  Conference 
to  be  as  I  had  written  them. 

The  foregoing  with  what  follows 
from  Dr.  Buckley  will  be  quite 
enough  to  show  what  was  in  the 
minds  of  those  chiefly  interested  in 
the  matter  which  I  have  deemed  to 
be  of  sufficient  importance  to  be 
given  so  much  prominence  in  these 
recollections: 

In  April,  1902,  an  editorial  on  the 
new  Hymnal  appeared  in  the  Chris- 
tian Advocate  of  New  York,  in  which 
a  delegate  from  Wisconsin  was  given 
the  credit  of  having  introduced  the 
matter  in  the  General  Conference. 
This  article  had  caught  the  atten- 
tion of  the  Rev.  E.  V.  Claypool  of 
Waverly,  Iowa,  who,  unknown  to  me 
had  written  Dr.  Buckley,  calling  his 
attention  to  the  error  contained  in 
the  editorial.  Replying  to  Dr.  Clay- 
pool,  Dr.  Buckley  gave  this  explana- 
tion: 

New  York,  April  22,  1902. 
My  dear  Brother: 

When    T    prepared    my    editorial    I 


THE   SIMPLE   LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


IT.J 


went  through  the  Journal  by  the 
index.  The  index  was  incomplete, 
so  far  as  I  can  find.  You  are  slight- 
ly in  error  in  saying  that  Dr.  Green 
introduced  his  motion  two  days  be- 
fore. The  Hart  motion  was  intro- 
duced on  the  morning  of  May  10th, 
and  the  Green  motion  on  the  morn- 
ing of  May  9th;  but  it  was  introduc- 
ed, though  not  indexed  correctly.  An 
attempt  was  undoubtedly  made  to 
index  it,  for  the  index  calls  for 
something  relating  to  the  Hymnal 
and  locates  it  on  page  184,  whereas 
it  should  have  been  page  188.  The 
index  does  not  give  under  "Hymnal" 
what  the  matter  was,  but  simply 
says  "Hymnal."  It  is  a  pleasure  to 
me  now  to  have  made  the  mistake, 
for  Dr.  Green  made  a  most  excel- 
lent speech  on  the  subject,  which  I 
shall  publish  in  full,  e-pecially  as  it 
supports,  as  you  say,  the  view  that 
I  take.  Yours  truly, 

J.    M.    BUCKLEY. 

A  few  days  subsequent  to  the  re- 
ceipt of  this  letter  by  Dr.  Claypool, 
the  Christian  Advocate  contained  the 
following  editorial: 

"In  the  recent  editorial  in  this 
paper  on  "What  Was  Our  Hymnal 
Committee  Appointed  to  Do?"  there 
was  an  error  for  which  we  are  hardly 
responsible.  Our  history  of  the  dis- 
cussion in  the  General  Conference 
assumed  that  the  first  resolution  on 
the  subject  was  presented  by  the 
Rev.  Frank  L.  Hart  on  May  10,  and 
we  affirmed  that  subsequently  on  the 
same  day,  later  in  the  session,  the 
Rev.  H.  H.  Green,  D.  D.,  of  the 
Upper  Iowa  Conference,  presented  a 
memorial  relative  to  the  Hymnal 
which  was  referred  to  the  Committee 
on  the  Book  Concern.  In  tracing  the 
discussion  we  referred  to  the  index 
of  the  "Journal,"  which  gives  the 
order  without  stating  the  phase 
treated,  as  follows:  "Hymnal,  new, 
184,  204."  On  page  184  there  is  no 
reference  whatever  to  the  Hymnal, 
and  after  looking  at  two  or  three  of 
the    preceding    and    foiiowing    pages 


we  concluded  that  there  had  been  a 
mistake  in  indexing.  Dr.  Green's 
resolution  was  presented  later  in  the 
session  of  May  9,  and  should  have 
been  indexed  under  page  ISS;  but 
no  reference  whatever  is  made  to  it 
in  the  index. 

We  are  not  sorry  for  the  error,  for 
the  resolutions  and  speeches  of  Dr. 
Green  are  of  such  a  nature  as  to 
show  conclvsively  what  was  meant. 
It  appears  that  one  or  two  memorials 
relating  in  some  way  to  the  Hymnal 
had  been  passed  to  the  secretary  on 
May  5,  and  referred  to  the  Commit- 
tee on  the  State  of  the  Church.  There 
had  been  one  or  two  others  relatTng 
to  the  Flymnal  passed  to  the  secre- 
tary, and  one  at  least  had  been  re- 
ferred to  the  Committee  on  the  Book 
Concern.  This  is  the  acco-nt  of  the 
'proceedings  as  contained  in  "The 
Daily  Advocate:" 

H.  H.  Green,  Upper  Iowa:  "I  have 
a  paper  to  present  which  the  secre- 
tary will  please  read. 

"  '  Whereas,  It  is  thought  by  many 
that  the  Hymnal  now  in  use  does  not 
meet  the  present  wants  of  the  church 
in  some  important  particulars;  there- 
fore, 

"  'Resolved,  That  the  Committee 
on  the  Book  Concern  be  instructed  to 
inquire  into  the  expediency  of  having 
prepared  a  new  hymn  book  in  which 
the  defects  (if  there  are  any)  in  the 
book  now  being  used  may  be  reme- 
died. 

"  'H.   H.   Green, 
L.  M.  Shaw, 
J.    C.    Magee.'  " 
J.    W.    Van   Cleve:      "I   think   that 
that   subject   has   been   referred   to   a 
committee    and    a    subcommittee    ap- 
pointed on  it,  and  it  ought  to  go  to 
that    committee." 

The  Bishop:  "Is  the  statement  of 
Dr.  Van  Cleve,  that  it  has  been  re- 
ferred,   correct?" 

W.  F.  Corkran:  "This  subject  has 
been  referred  to  a  committee,  and  it 
is  now  before  the  sub-committee.  It 
is  before  the  sub-committee  on  gen- 
eral reference,  appointed  by  the 
Book   Concern   Committee." 

H.  H.  Green:  "It  is  not  the  design 
of  this  resolution  to  do  away  with 
the  present  Hymnal.  That  would  be 
a  calamity. 


THE   SIMPLE   LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


"It  is  the  best  book  that  has  ever 
been  compiled,  and  we  have  no 
thought  of  doing  away  with   it. 

••The  purpose  of  this  resolution  is 
to  provide  for  some  defects.  The 
Hymnal  now  in  use  is  the  best  we 
can  get  for  the  larger  churches,  but 
the  deficiency  exists  in  the  fact  that 
the  words  and  the  music  are  separat- 
ed from  each  other.  :My  thought  is 
to  provide  a  Hymnal  that  shall  elim- 
inate the  larger  number  of  hymns 
trom  the  present  book,  and  publish 
another  in  which  there  shall  be  about 
three  hundred  hymns,  which  certain- 
ly is  all  that  is  being  sung  in  the 
churches  at  the  present  time,  and 
that  the  words  and  the  music  shall 
be  placed  together  so  that  the  rising 
generation  shall  sing  the  hymns.  At 
the  present  time  they  are  not  being 
sung  in  the  smaller  churches  nor  in 
our  country  congregations.  The  sci- 
ence of  music  is  being  taught  in  our 
public  schools,  and  a  generation  of 
young  people  is  coming  on  that  de- 
mands that  we  shall  have  a  book  in 
which  they  can  read  the  notes  and 
sing  these  hymns.  It  is  for  this  pur- 
pose that  I  wanted  this  resolution 
referred.  Our  Conference  has  been 
passed  by,  as  you  know,  for  three  or 
four  days,  and  this  resolution  has 
been  delayed  for  that  reason.  I  beg 
that  it  may  go  to  the  committee,  in 
order  that  they  may  inquire  espe- 
cially into  the  cost  of  such  a  Hymnal 
as  I  have  been  speaking  of." 

The  Bishop:  "The  motion  is  to 
refer  the  paper  to  the  Committee  on 
Book  Concern." 

E.  J.  Gray:  "We  have  a  Commit- 
tee on  State  of  the  Church,  and  they 
are  considering  that  question,  and  I 
move  that  this  paper  be  referred  to 
the  Committee  on  the  State  of  the 
Church." 

The  Bishop  put  the  motion  made 
by  H.  H.  Green,  that  it  be  referred 
to  the  Committee  on  the  Book  Con- 
cern, and  it   prevailed. 

Dr.  Green  was  himself  a  member 
of  the  Committee  on  the  Book  Con- 
cern. It  will  be  seen  that  this  com- 
mittee reported  in  exact  accordance 
with  the  speech  with  which  he  ac- 
companied  his  original  resolution. 

It  will  also  be  noticed  that  Gover- 
nor Shaw,  the  Chairman  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  the  Book  Concern,  who  re- 


ported the  final  action  to  the  Gen- 
eral Conference,  was  one  of  the  sign- 
ers of  the  original  resolution  pre- 
sented by  H.   H.   Green. 

There  is  no  ground  for  supposing 
that  the  General  Conference  propos- 
ed the  compilation  of  a  general 
Hymnal  to  displace  the  present  offi- 
cial Hymnal." 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

As  1  have  already  indicated  in  a 
preceding  chapter  the  way  had  been 
prepared  for  two  important  changes 
in  the  personel  of  the  General  Con- 
ference. One  of  these  was  the  ad- 
mission of  women  to  a  seat  in  the 
body,  the  other  was  an  enlarged  rep- 
resentation   of   the    Laity. 

A  majority  of  the  members  of  the 
Annual  Conferences  had  voted  favor- 
ably on  both  propositions,  so  that  it 
only  required  a  vote  of  two-thirds  of 
the  members  of  the  General  Con- 
ference to  consummate  these  changes. 

This  was  done  as  early  in  the  ses- 
sion as  practicable  and  for  the  first 
time  in  the  history  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church,  a  woman  took  her 
seat  in  its  law  making  body,  amid 
great  cheering.  At  the  same  time  an 
equal  number  of  laymen  were  seated 
from  each  Annual  Conference  with 
their  brethren  in  the  ministry.  It 
was  a  great  Conference,  containing 
some  of  the  most  prominent  men  in 
the  church  from  all  parts  of  the 
world.  There  were  also  present  fra- 
ternal delegates  representing  aearly 
all  the  great  christian  bodies  in  the 
world. 

It  may  weL  be  believed,  therefore, 
that  it  was  with  fear  and  trembling, 
I  made  my  way  to  the  platform  to 
plead  for  a  new  hymnal;  never  had 
I  stood  before  such  an  audience,  and 
here  I  will  venture  to  say  that  in 
the  United  States  of  America,  no 
more  eminent  body,  all  things  con- 
sidered, ever  assembles,  than  a  Gen- 


THE   SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


175 


eral  Conference  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church.  However,  I  was 
told  afterwaid  by  some  of  my  friends 
seated  in  the  rear  of  the  great  build- 
ing, that  they  could  hear  everything 
I  said,  and  that  I  had  done  very  well 
indeed,  which,  partial  though  their 
words  may  have  been,  certainly 
calmed  my  troubled  breast. 

In  addition  to  the  work  already 
referred  to,  that  General  Conference 
made  several  other  important 
changes,  among  which  was  the  re- 
moval of  the  "time  limit,"  which 
hitherto  had  restricted  the  pastorate 
to  a  limited  term  of  serv'ce  on  each 
charge.  The  action  of  the  General 
Conference  of  1900  enables  preach- 
ers to  remain  as  pastors  of  the  same 
church,  year  after  year,  as  long  as 
things  are  mutually  satisfactory,  and 
the  general  interests  of  the  churches 
do  not  suffer.  It  is  true,  efforts  have 
been  made  to  induce  a  return  to  the 
old  rule,  but  they  have  not  met  with 
much  encouragement,  nor  is  there  a 
probability  that  they  ever  will,  for 
the  present  arrangement  appears  to 
work    quite    well. 

My  associates  on  the  delegation 
from  the  Upper  Iowa  Conference 
were  all  men  of  ability,  well  known 
to  the  church  which  they  had  long 
served  with  distinction.  The  min- 
isters were  H.  O.  Pratt,  formerly  a 
member  of  Congress;  Homer  C. 
Stuntz,  now  one  of  the  secretaries  of 
the  Missionary  Society;  .J.  C.  Magee 
and  J.  B.  Albrook,  for  many  years 
Presiding  Elders  and  S.  C.  Bronson, 
professor  in  Garrett  Biblical  Insti- 
tute. The  laymen  were  A.  E. 
Swisher,  J.  F.  Merry,  T.  B.  Taylor, 
.7.  J.  Clark,  W.  F.  Johnston  and  D. 
B.  Snyder,  with  all  of  whom,  except- 
ing Mr.  Clark,  I  had  formerly  been 
more    or    less    intimately    associated. 

Capt.    John    F.     Merry,     Assistant 


General  Passenger  Agent  of  the  Il- 
linois Central  railroad,  who  was  a 
resident  of  Dubuque,  was  my  col- 
league on  the  Book  Concern  Com- 
mittee, where  he  rendered  the  church 
excellent  service  and  was  highly 
esteemed    by   his    brethren. 

After  the  adjournment  I  returned 
to  Dubuque  and  immediately  resum- 
ed my  work  on  the  district. 

An  incident  at  the  close  of  the  ser- 
vice at  one  of  the  churches  on  a  Sun- 
day afternoon  caused  not  a  little 
amusement.  I  had  just  stepped  down 
from  the  pulpit,  when  a  fine  looking, 
middle  aged  man  approached  me, 
offering  polite,  though"  rather  effu- 
sive congratulations  on  the  way  the 
service  had  been  conducted,  saying 
some  very  pleasant  things  about  it. 
He  had  no  sooner  turned  away,  how- 
ever, than  a  loyal  friend  of  mine 
stepped  up,  and  in  an  earnest,  con- 
fidential way  said:  "You  must  not 
pay  any  attention  to  what  he  says; 
he  isn't  right  in  his  head."  His 
daughter,  who  happened  to  be  stand- 
ing near  us  and  had  heard  what  the 
other  man  had  said,  was  quite  put 
out  at  what  she  considered  her  fath- 
er's mistake.  "Why,  Pa,"  she  said, 
"he  was  saying  some  very  nice  and 
polite  things  to  Mr.  Green  about  the 
services,  and  here  you  are  going  to 
spoil  it  all."  And  then  we  all  had 
a  good  hearty  laugh  over  the  inci- 
dent, from  which  apparently  nothing 
harmful    resulted. 

The  life  of  most  ministers  who 
have  been  long  in  the  service  is  re- 
plete with  incidents,  both  humorous 
and  pathetic,  all  of  which  have 
their  places  and  doubtless  serve 
some  wise  purpose,  for  it  is  hard  to 
believe  that  any  of  the  events  of  our 
lives  are  altogether  purposeless.  I 
recall  at  this  moment  one  of  those 
aft'ecting  things  which  occurred  dur- 


17(1 


THE   SIMPLE   LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


ing  the  earlier  years  of  my  minis- 
try; a  lady,  a  member  of  a  sister 
church,  who  was  the  mother  of  two 
beautiful  little  girls  came  to  our 
house  one  day  and  with  tears 
streaming  down  her  face  begged  me 
to  interest  myself  in  her  husband, 
who  had  taken  to  drinking.  The 
habit  had  so  fastened  itself  upon 
him  that  its  baleful  effects  were  al- 
ready visible,  and  she  feared  it 
would  not  be  long  before  he  would 
become  a  helpless  victim  to  its  de- 
stroying power.  They  were  well-to- 
do  people;  the  husband  was  one  of 
the  prominent  business  men  of  the 
town  and  the'  wife  was  highly  es- 
teemed in  the  social  and  religious 
circles  of  the  place.  It  was  no  won- 
der, therefore,  that  the  poor  woman 
was  crushed  under  the  blighting 
curse  which  had  fallen  upon  them. 
"O,  Mr.  Green,"  she  said,  "is  there 
not  something  you  can  do  to  save 
my  husband?,  he  likes  you  and  I 
feel  sure  you  can   help  him." 

"You  may  depend  upon  it,  I  will 
do  everything  in  my  power  to  help 
him,"  I  replied,  "I  will  see  him  at 
once." 

I  immediately  went  over  to  his 
place  of  business  and  began  a  social 
chat  with  him  on  the  news  of  the 
day,  but  carefully  avoided  any  ref- 
erence to  the  subject  nearest  my 
heart.  These  calls  were  continued 
for  several  days  and  were  pleasant 
occasions  to  both  of  us.  Finally  I 
carefully  broached  the  subject  which 
was  uppermost  in  my  mind,  and, 
knowing  him  to  be  sensitive  touch- 
ing things  of  so  personal  a  nature, 
as  is  only  natural  to  all  of  us,  I 
cautiously  felt  my  way  to  his  heart, 
encouraged  to  find  in  him  a  ready 
and  acquiescent  listener.  It  was 
much  easier  than  I  had  feared  it 
would  be.      I  talked  with  him  about 


his  devoted  wife  and  the  two  beau- 
tiful little  girls,  about  the  fine  rec- 
ord he  had  made  while  in  the  army, 
also  his  success  in  business  and  the 
prospects  before  him,  and  then  I 
tried  to  make  clear  to  him  the  awful 
consequences  of  a  blasted  life  upon 
his  lamily  as  well  as  himself.  When 
I  ceased  speaking  he  was  crying  like 
a  child;  he  was  much  affected  and 
spoke  in  very  tender  words  of  his 
wife   and    children.      Then    I   said: 

•'Tom,  I  have  a  proposition  to 
make  you;  I  don't  know  how  it  will 
strike  you,  but  as  an  old  comrade 
and  a  friend  I  am  going  to  take  the 
liberty  to  state  it.  My  proposal  is 
that  you  draw  up  a  paper  pledging 
both  of  us  to  abstain  from  the  use 
of  liquor  for  one  year,  what  do  you 
say."  After  pondering  over  it  for 
some  little  time  he  said,  with  a 
look    of    determination    on    his    face: 

"Mr.  Green,  I  will  do  it,  and  God 
lielping  me  I  will  keep  it.  You  can 
draw  up  the  paper  right  here  and 
now,  and  we  will  both  sign  it." 

This  was  promptly  done  and  the 
paper  was  carefully  laid  away  in  his 
safe.  I  then  went  out  and  told  a 
few  of  his  friends  what  we  had  done, 
and  requested  them  to  drop  into  his 
place  of  business  occasionally  and 
have  a  chat  with  him,  carefully 
avoiding  any  reference  to  the  drink 
habit  in  a  general  way.  I  called  in 
every  few  days  at  first  and  did  what 
I  could  to  brace  him  up.  The  re- 
sult was  all  we  had  hoped  for,  he 
kept  his  promise.  His  business 
prospered  and  his  family  was  made 
happy    once    more. 

Toward  the  close  of  my  term  on 
the  district  I  was  holding  a  quarter- 
ly meeting  in  one  of  the  country 
churches,  where  the  congregation 
was  composed  almost  exclusively  of 
Irish  people  or   their  immediate   de- 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


177 


scendants.  They  were  a  thoroughly 
reliable  folk,  honest,  industrious, 
prosperous  and  faithful  to  all  the 
interests  of  the  church,  but  some  of 
them  had  their  own  ideas  about  a 
few  things,  which  were  not  always 
in  accord  with  the  customs  of  the 
preachers,  and  whenever  this  was 
the  case  a  mild  eruption  would  be 
sure  to  occur  when  they  came  to- 
gether, and  when  it  was  over  with 
the  preachers  generally  found  that 
they  had  been  in  collision  with  a 
snag  and  had  gotten  the  worst  of  it. 
On  the  occasion  referred  to,  the 
pastor,  who  was  conducting  a  love 
feast,  innocently  ran  against  one  of 
those  snags  which  stopped  him  with 
a  suddenness  that  quite  staggered 
him.  He  had  announced  the  open- 
ing hymn,  and  then  thinking  to 
recognize  and  honor  one  of  the 
faithful  old  servants  of  the  church, 
he  said: 

"After  we  have  sung  this  hymn  I 
will  ask  Brother  R.  to  lead  us  in 
prayer." 

Brother  R.,  an  old  gentleman  who 
was  quite  deaf,  was  seated  just  in 
front  of  the  pulpit,  and  v/ith  his 
hand  to  his  ear  was  listening  in- 
tently to  what  was  being  said.  He 
failed  to  catch  all  the  words  of  the 
pastor,  however,  hearing  only  just 
enough  to  understand  that  he  was 
in  some  way  concerned,  so  he  peered 
over  the  top  of  the  pulpit  in  a  comi- 
cal way  and  almost  shouted: 

"What    is    that    ye    are    saying?" 
The  pastor  repeated  his  request  in 
a  little  higher  tone  of  voice,  where- 
upon the  old   gentleman  shotted: 

"I'll  not  do  it,  there's  two  o'  ye 
preachers  here  an'  ye  may  do  your 
own  prayin'.  What  are  ye  here  for 
anyhow?  Ye're  paid  to  do  the 
preachin'  an'  the  prayin'  an'  I'll  not 
do  it  for  ye." 


So    the    pastor,    with    a    smile    he 
could  not  repress,  turned  to  the  con- 
gregation  and   said: 
"Let  us  pray." 

I  have  mentioned  these  incidents 
only  as  examples  of  the  many  things 
that  enter  into  the  experiences  of  a 
minister  of  the  gospel,  not  a  few  of 
which  tend  to  lighten  his  burdens 
and   brighten   his   life. 

At  the  Cedar  Rapids  Conference 
in  the  fall  at  1903,  I  was  chosen  one 
of  the  reserve  delosates  to  the  Gen- 
eral Conference,  to  be  held  at  Los 
Angeles  the  following  spring.  I  felt 
very  grateful  to  my  brethren  in  the 
ministry  for  this  expression  of  their 
kindness,  coming  as  it  did  so  near 
the  close  of  my  effective  relations 
to  them  and  my  active  work  in  the 
ministry.  I  was  not  able  to  attend 
however,  much  as  I  would  have  been 
pleased  to  do. 

As  the  end  of  my  term  on  the 
district  drew  near,  I  became  convinc- 
ed that  my  ministerial  labors  must 
soon  come  to  a  close.  The  exposures 
iru.ident  to  an  active  army  life  dur- 
ing the  Civil  War,  together  with 
the  wearing  demands  .of  the  Presid- 
ing Eldership  for  so  many  years  had 
so  told  upon  my  health,  that  1  felt 
it  would  not  be  prudent  for  me  to 
attempt  to  continue  longer  in  the 
work,  for  I  would  not  be  able  to 
render  such  service  as  would  reason- 
ably be  expected  of  me.  So,  in  jus- 
tice to  the  church  and  to  myself,  I 
determined  to  retire  at  the  approach- 
ing  session    of    the    Conference. 

Before  leaving  Dubuque  for  De- 
corah,  which  was  to  become  our  fut- 
ure home,  the  Social  Union  of  St 
Luke's  church  arranged  a  very  pleas- 
ant function  for  Mrs.  Green.  It  v,as 
a  farewell  reception,  participated  in 
by  the  ladies  of  the  church  and  other 
friends   in   the   city.      On   every  side 


178 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


regrets  were  expressed  that  the  time 
had  arrived  for  her  departure  from 
the  church  and  the  city,  where  the 
relations  had  been  so  pleasant  for 
the  preceding  six  years.  Some  beau- 
tiful souvenirs  were  presented  to 
her,  and  these  she  cherishes  as 
among  the  most  valued  of  lier  treas- 
ures. Some  very  dear  and  lasting 
friendships  were  formed  in  Dubuque, 
none  of  which  are  more  highly  prized 
than  those  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  F.  H. 
Wood  and  family;  I\Irs.  A.  C.  Max- 
well; Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  F.  McFarland 
and  Miss  Jennie  Jackson,  with  whom 
Mrs.  Green  was  more  intimately  as- 
sociated. 

We  arrived  at  the  seat  of  the  Con- 
fernce  at  Davenport  on  the  Saturday 
before  the  opening  of  the  session, 
and  were  entertained  at  the  home  of 
our  relatives,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  W.  B. 
Milligan,    old    residents    of    the    city. 

On  Sunday  morning,  at  the  request 
of  the  pastor,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Fayette 
L.  Thompson,  I  occupied  the  pulpit 
of  St.  John's  church,  having  for  my 
text,  116  Psalm,  1-2  verses.  Our 
son,  Marion,  had  been  engaged  to 
give  a  song  recital  at  the  church 
during  the  session  of  the  Conference, 
which  he  did,  to  the  great  satisfac- 
tion of  the  large,  music  loving  audi- 
ence. 

Just  before  the  close  of  the  Con- 
ference I  asked  for  a  change  of  rela- 
tion from  the  effective  to  the  super- 
numerary ranks,  and  my  request  was 
granted  by  vote  of  my  brethren.  This 
action  was  followed  by  a  few  pleas- 
ant words  from  Bishop  Joyce,  in  ref- 
erence to  my  retirement,  after  which 
came  the  following,  which  I  copy 
from    the    official    records. 

"Dr.  T.  E.  Fleming  addressed  the 
Conference  in  reference  to  the  re- 
tirement of  Dr.  H.  H.  Green  from 
the  effective  ranks,  alluding  appre- 
ciatively   to    his     distinguished     ser- 


vices as  a  soldier,  a  legislator,  and 
an  official  of  the  church,  concluding 
with  a  motion  that  he  be  granted  a 
supernumerary  relation.  This  was 
granted. 

E.  J.  Lockwood  presented,  and  the 
Conference  adopted,  the  following 
resolution: 

inasmuch  as  Rev.  H.  H.  Green, 
D.  D.,  in  asking  for  a  supernumer- 
ary relation,  now  closes  thirty-six 
years  of  service  in  the  Upper  Iowa 
Conference,  eighteen  years  of  which 
he  has  served  most  efficiently  as  a 
Presiding  Elder;    be  it 

RESOLVED,  That  we  hereby  ex- 
press to  him  our  appreciation  of  his 
fidelity  to  the  interests  of  our  Con- 
ference, of  his  brotherly  spirit,  his 
unfailing  courtesy,  uniform  fairness, 
untiring  industry  and  valuable  coun- 
sel. 

We  pray  that  the  blessing  of  God 
may  abound  unto  him  in  his  new 
relation,  and  assure  him  that  our 
esteem  and  affection  shall  abide  with 
him. 

W.  W.  CARLTON, 
F.  P.  SHAFFER, 
E.   J.   LOCKWOOD." 

Up  to  the  present  time  I  have  been 
able  to  attend,  with  two  exceptions, 
all  the  meetings  of  the  Conference, 
and  in  the  temporary  absence  of  the 
Presiding  Bishop,  have,  on  several 
occasions,  been  called  upon  to  pre- 
side over  its  deliberations,  at  which 
times  my  brother  preachers  have 
been  very  considerate  and  very  pa- 
tient. 

After  adjournment  of  the  Confer- 
ence we  returned  to  our  home  at 
Decorah,  where  among  many  friends, 
we  settled  down  to  enjoy  the  peace 
and   quiet  of  the  evening  of  life. 

I  take  the  liberty  to  insert  here 
the  following  parting  shot  from  St. 
Luke's  Record,  an  appreciation, 
which,  while  it  may  be  very  partial, 
is  most  highly  prized: 

We  are  glad  to  present  to  our 
readers  this  excellent  portrait  of  our 
beloved  Presiding  Elder,  Rev.  H.  H. 
Green,  D.  D.,  who  has  just  closed  his 


THE  SIMPLE  LIFE  OF  A  COMMONER 


six  years'  term  as  Presiding  Elder  of 
the  Dubuque  District.  It  will  not 
seem  at  all  natural  to  hear  a  new 
Presiding  Elder.  Dr.  Green  suited 
us  perfectly.  His  counsel  has  always 
been  wholesome,  sane  and  brotherly 
— never  withheld  when  needed,  nev- 
er obtruded  when  not  needed.  His 
demeanor  has  always  been  dignified 
as  well  as  genial.  His  sermons  have 
been  always  thoughtful  and  helpful. 
His  interest  in  St.  Luke's  has  been 
something  more  than  professional, 
and  his  admiration  of  its  abundant 
life  and  its  manner  of  doing  things 
has  been  sincere.  He  has  often 
spoken  of  St.  Luke's  both  at  the  Dis- 
trict Conference  and  at  the  Annual 
Conference  in  terms  of  generous 
praise.  For  all  these  things,  as  well 
as  for  his  personal  worth,  we  love 
him.  Mrs.  Green  has  been  one  of 
the  most  valuable  and  beloved  of  our 
tlock — abundant  in  labors  and  un- 
heralded ministries  she  has  been  a 
veritable  deaconess  among  us.  The 
prosperous  and  the  poor  alike  love 
her,  and  her  place  will  always  be 
vacant.  The  prayers  and  cordial 
God-speed  of  the  entire  congregation 
go  with  these  beloved  servants  of 
the  Lord  in  their  retirement  from 
the  active  work  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  itinerancy. 

It  was  four  years  after  our  retire- 
ment from  the  active  duties  of  the 
ministry,  that  we  received  the  an- 
nouncement of  the  approaching  wed- 
ding of  our  eldest  son,  Samuel  Wil- 
liam, to  Miss  Claudia  Wells  of  Val- 
entine, Nebraska.  The  ceremony  was 
solemnized  by  the  father  of  the 
bride,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wells,  rector"  of 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  church  of 
Valentine.  Immediately  following 
the  wedding  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Green  be- 
gan housekeeping  at  Ewing,  Nebras- 
ka, where  they  now  reside,  and 
where  '  Sam"  is  a  well-to-do  drug- 
gist. 

On  Saturday,  April  2,  1910,  oc- 
curred the  wedding  of  our  youngest 
son,  Marion,  concerning  which  I 
make  the  following  extract  from  an 


account  of  the  occasion,  which  was 
given  by  the  Chicago  Tribune: 

"The  first  of  the  group  of  wed- 
dings for  spring  was  celebrated  yes- 
terday. The  largest  of  these  perhaps 
v/as  the  one  in  which  both  the  musi- 
cal and  the  society  circles  were  in- 
terested— that  of  ^liss  Ethelwynne 
Sattley,  daughter  of  Dr.  and  Mrs. 
Elliott  R.  Carpenter,  4413  Oaken- 
wald  avenue,  and  ]\Ir.  Marion  Green, 
which  was  celebrated  in  the  evening 
at  the  Carpenter  residence.  The 
groom's  father,  the  Rev.  H.  H.  Green 
of  Decorah,  Iowa,  performed  the 
ceremony." 

And  now  I  must  bring  my  story  to 
a  close  in  grateful  acknowledgement 
of  all  I  owe,  under  the  blessing  of 
God,  to  my  beloved  wife,  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  church  and  the  many, 
many  kind  friends,  who,  through  all 
the  years  of  my  life,  have  done  much 
to  make  my  pathway  very  pleasant 
and  life  itself  worth  while.  Happy 
also  in  the  thought  that  our  children 
have  grown  up  to  be  honorable  and 
useful  men  and  women  in  the  world 
— fathers  and  mothers  of  a  new  gen- 
eration of  boys  and  girls,  who  are  to 
perpetuate  and  extend  this  genea- 
logy. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER    I. 

Birth  Parentage  and  Early  Days  at  Elsham,  England.  A  Musical 
Family.  The  County  of  Lincoln— Birthplace  of  Distinguished  Men  and 
fccene   of   Historic    Events. 

CHAPTER    n. 
The  Family  Removes  from  Elsham  to  Beaconsfield,  Buckinghamshire;. 
Sciiool   Days   at   Beaconsflehl. 

CHAPTER    ni. 
Hyde  Farm.     Journeys  to  London.      Spudding  Thistles.      Death  Twice 
Enters  the  Family.     The  Crystal  Palace.      St.  Paul's  Church, 
CHAPTER  IV. 

Wooburn  Green.  (Joing  to  America.  The  Sir  Robert  Peel.  Five 
Weeks  on  the  Atlantic.  Half  Way  Across  the  Continent.  I  Make  a  Pur- 
chase.     Arrive   at   Lyons. 

CHAPTER  V. 

Independence  Day.  Fish's  Mill — Fever  and  Ague.  School  Days  at 
Lyons. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Steamboating,    Hunting   and    Fishing    on   the    Mississippi.      A   Channel 
Cat.      Rafting    on    the    River.      Artemas    Ward.      The    Winter    of    '56-'57. 
;\;y    Mother   is   Accidentally   Shot.      Marketing   Produce.      Depreciated   Cur- 
rency.     The   Spirit   Lake   Massacre.      My  First   Business  Venture. 
CHAPTER  VII. 

Down  the  River  to  Memphis.  Magnificent  Scenery.  Boatmen  and 
Raftmen.      Resolute,   No.    1    in  Action.      The   Legend   of  Oneota. 

CHAPTER   VIII. 
At    Memphis    I    Meet    With    an    Old    Acquaintance.      Some    Unpleasant 
Experiences  Caused  by  Unusual  Conditions.      Return  North  in  the  Spring. 
The  Great  Tornado  of  I80O.     I  Become  a  Night  Watchman.     Cupid's  Dart. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Political  Campaigns  Leading  Up  to  the  Election  of  Lincoln  in  1860. 
The  Slavery  Question  Pre-eminent.  Some  Noted  Men  of  the  Day.  Nomin- 
ation and  Election  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  Declaration  of  War.  The  Clinton 
County  Guards. 

CHAPTER  X. 

Our  First   Uniforms.      The  Comi  any   is   Presented   With   a   Flag.      De- 

f,rf  — -  for  the   Sea.  of  War.      Organization  of  the  Second   Iowa   Intantry. 

th    Missouri.      Bridge    Burners.      Death    of    Albert    WMnchell.      The 

ing  of  r    Rebel.      At  Bird's  Point.      .Jeff.  Thompson.      At  Pilot  Knob. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

The  Ironton  Peach  Orchard — Some  Reflections  Thereon.  Foraging 
Forbidden.  Am  I  a  Thief?  Drummed  Out  of  Camp.  General  Fremont 
Issues  a  General  Order.  Provost  Guard  Duty  at  St.  Louis — McDowell's 
College.  My  Rebel  Friend.  Vandalism.  We  Leave  for  the  Field  Under 
Censure. 

CHAPTER    XII. 

The  Battle  of  Fort  Donelson.  Charge  of  the  Second  Iowa.  Sur- 
render of  the  Fort.  Capture  of  Fort  Donelson,  the  First  Great  Union 
Victory  of  the  War. 

CHAPTER   XIII. 

After  the  Battle.  Pneumonia  Caused  by  Exposure.  A  Hard  Time 
Getting  Away  From  the  Fort.  In  Hospital  at  Mound  City,  Illinois.  Home 
on  a  Furlough.  The  Battle  of  Pittsburg  Landing.  The  Advance  on  Cor- 
inth.    Camp  Montgomery.     The  Battle  of  luka. 

CHAPTER    XIV. 

A  Premonition.  The  Battle  of  Corinth.  I  Am  Promoted.  After 
Forrest  and  Rnoddy.     At  Smith's  Bridge.     A  Narrow  Escape. 

CHAPTER    XV. 

History  Repeats  Itself.  A  Futile  Expedition.  Guerrillas.  Miss  Mary 
Jane.  On  Leave  of  Absence.  A  Sad  Parting  With  My  Father.  At  La 
Grange,  Tennessee.  An  Important  Letter  and  its  Answer.  We  Leave 
La  Grange  for  Other  Fields.      An  Unlooked  for  Incident.    . 

CHAPTER    XVI. 

Tragic  Death  of  General  Van  Dorn.  A  Cold  Winter.  The  Fifty- 
Second  Illinois  vs.  The  Second  Iowa.  An  Accident  Causes  the  Death  of 
My  Father  Amid  Great  buffering.  I  Obtain  Leave  of  Absence.  An  Inci- 
dent on  the  Cars. 

CHAPTER    XVII. 

Recruits  Are  Nagged  by  Veterans.  Severe  Punishment  of  Thieves. 
Hanging  of  Samuel  Davis,  the  Rebel  Spy.  The  Regiment  Leaves  Pulaski 
tor  the  Front.      Snake  Creek  Gap.     Resacca,  Kingston.      Mustered  Out. 

CHAPTER   XVIII. 

I  Engage  in  business  at  Lyons.  Married  to  Miss  Mary  M.  Bennett. 
The  Great  Change.  First  Sermon.  Attend  Conference.  My  First  Appoint- 
ment is  Summer  Hill  Circuit.  A  Night  Adventure.  Admitted  on  Trial  in 
the  Upper   Iowa  Conference.      Second  Year  at   Summer  Hill. 

CHAPTER    XIX. 

A  Great  Revival  With  Blessed  Results.  We  Build  a  Church.  The 
Solving  of  a  Doubt.  Third  Year  at  Summer  Hill  Circuit.  Birth  of  Samuel 
William.      I  am  Appointed   Pastor  of  Mill  Rock  Circuit. 

CHAPTER    XX. 

Preacher  in  Charge  of  Maquoketa  Circuit.  A  Kindly  Greeting.  The 
River  Brethren.  The  Class  Leader  and  the  Organ.  Trying  to  Warm  Up. 
A  Fine  Parsonage.  I  Meet  an  Old  Acquaintance.  Lay  Delegates.  The 
Midland  Railroad.  A  Profitable  Excursion.  The  First  Church  Building. 
A  Wedding.  Wyoming.  Birth  of  Harry  Joseph.  I  Meet  With  a  Serious 
Loss. 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

I  Become  a  Superannuate.  Among  Kind  Friends.  Revival  Meetings. 
Pastor  at  Toledo.  Musquakee  Indians.  The  Taking  of  a  Dog.  The  Great 
Yellow  Fever  Scourge.  I  am  Revenged  on  Memphis.  A  Trip  to  the  Moun- 
tains.     We  go  to  Nashua.     The  Pest  of  Diphtheria. 

CHAPTER    XXII. 

My  First  Sermon  Before  the  Conference.  Waggish  Preachers.  Janes- 
ville — Literary  and  Musical  Talent.  Birth  of  Marion,  March  8th,  1882. 
A  Souvenir  of  Two  Wars.  Campaign  for  Temperance  Legislation.  I  am 
Elected  Representative  From  the  Sixty-Second  District.  I  am  Appointed 
to  Plainfield.      Opening  of  the  Twentieth  General  Assembly. 

CHAPTER   XXIII. 

Presiding  Elder  of  Dubu()ue  District.  ]\lain  Street,  Dubuque.  Pro- 
fane Swearing.  Marriage  of  Our  Eldest  Daughter.  Elected  Delegate  to 
the  General  Conference  of  1888.  The  Man  from  Idaho.  I  Meet  Colonel 
F.  D.  Grant.  J.  P.  Newman  Elected  Bishop.  The  Woman  Question.  The 
Florence  Mission.      Two  Great   Ships. 

CHAPTER   XXIV. 

A  Wedding  Fee.  Wedding  Anniversary.  "Hark  From  the  Tomb." 
Death  of  Robert.  Conference  at  Decorah.  Presiding  Elder  of  Decorah 
District.  Waste  Places.  The  Columbian  Exposition.  I  Meet  My  Cousin 
George.     Marriage  of  Schuyler  and  of  Iowa. 

CHAPTER    XXV. 

A  Trip  to  Florida.  Saint  Augustine.  The  Ocklawaha.  Along  the 
Railway.  I  visit  the  Fort  Donelson  Battlefield.  Pastor  at  Iowa  Falls. 
Marriage  of  Lucy  and  of  Harry.  Re-appointed  Presiding  Elder  of  Dubuque 
District.  The  General  Conference  of  1900.  A  Change  in  the  Supernum- 
erary Relation. 

CHAPTER   XXVI. 

The    General    Conference    of    1900 — Continued — The    New    Hymnal. 

CHAPTER   XXVII. 

Women  Are  Admitted  to  a  Seat  in  the  Great  Law  Making  Body  of 
the  Church.  Layment  Are  Admitted  in  Equal  Numbers  With  the  Ministry. 
Removal  of  the  Time  Limit.  An  Amusing  Incident.  A  Pathetic  Incident. 
Up  Against  a  Snag.  Elected  Reserve  Delegate  to  General  Conference  of 
1904.  Marriage  of  Samuel  WMniam.  Marriage  of  Marion  Bennett.  Re- 
tirement. 


The  author  acknowledges  his  indebtedness  to  Mr.  L.  D.  Ingersoii, 
author  of  "Iowa  and  the  Rebellion,"  from  whose  book  he  has  made  quota- 
tions; also  to  the  Clinton  (Iowa)  Mirror;  Memoirs  of  General  Grant; 
The  Chicago  Journal:  Mr.  William  E.  Curtis,  late  correspondent  of  the 
Chicago    Record-Herald,    and    to    Ex-Governor   William    Larrabee. 


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